


Kinship

by comicc_bookk_jawnss



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Brief Emotional/Psychological Abuse - Peter, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, High School Reunion, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia - past, Panic Attacks, Protective! Dani, Protective! Jamie, Romantic Fluff, background Dani and Eddie/brief harassment - all in the past, background Peter and Rebecca, brief non-graphic violence, not a very slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 43,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29724120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comicc_bookk_jawnss/pseuds/comicc_bookk_jawnss
Summary: “I kinda turned around.”“Again?”Her tone was borderline incredulous.“Yeah, think ma Uber rating’s gonna take a hit.”Jamie started to look up a little surprised — and, admittedly, disappointed — that Dani wasn’t laughing. But the reason why became apparent before her eyes even reached Dani’s.//The high school reunion AU no one asked for
Relationships: Dani Clayton & Jamie, Dani Clayton/Jamie, Hannah Grose & Owen Sharma, Hannah Grose/Owen Sharma
Comments: 33
Kudos: 132





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey.”

Jamie turned to find Dani, smiling in the sweet, nervous way that made her heart flutter, walking out the front door of their old high school toward her.

“Shit, sorry.”

She saw Dani raise her eyebrows and actually freeze mid-step at the decidedly unconventional greeting. Jamie dropped her cigarette, almost entirely unused, onto the pavement and stomped it out. Dani’s eyebrows only rose further. Jamie cleared her throat and shoved her hands in the pockets of her slacks.

“Asthma and smoke don’t really mix, yeah?”

Dani gaped at her for a moment.

“Oh... well, yeah... not - but you - but you didn’t have to... ”

Jamie waved her off.

“Sorry.”

Dani gave her an apologetic smile, and Jamie couldn’t help smiling herself as she shoved her hand back in her pocket.

“Honestly, it’s fine, Poppins. Been meanin’ to... ”

Dani was looking at her curiously, head cocked. Jamie blanched.

‘Poppins’ was her code name for Dani, her and Owen’s. She’d offhandedly used the moniker _once_ a few weeks into their senior year — her and Owen's only year at the school — and Owen, who’d already suspected she had crush, had started referring to Dani as such himself, so they could talk about her at school, much to Jamie’s chagrin.

Jamie rubbed the back of her neck, no longer meeting Dani’s gaze.

“I, uh... ” She cleared her throat. “I remember you used to babysit and stuff... and you’re a teacher here now, right? So... ” She could tell Dani was still staring and felt her cheeks starting to burn. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

Jamie lowered her hand and looked up. Dani was smiling, quite widely, actually. And were her cheeks a little pinker?

“Umm, can - can I?”

Dani nodded toward her, and Jamie realized Dani was still standing by the doors where she’d initially stopped. Jamie stepped to the side to make to room for her, which was completely unnecessary considering they were outside.

“’Course, yeah.” She smirked. “Not _my_ car park, Poppins.”

Jamie felt her heart flutter again as Dani giggled and started walking over.

“So pockets, huh?”

_Jesus_ , what kind of a question was that? Dani seemed similarly caught off-guard as she stopped alongside her until she followed Jamie’s gaze down to her sundress. And to Jamie’s surprise, her face lit up.

“Oh yeah, right?!”

Dani looked back up at her, one hand still in her pocket, the other holding a Solo cup. Well, technically, Dani was looking down at her. In heels, Dani was a few inches taller. Jamie found it more alluring than she cared to admit.

“I don’t buy dresses without them anymore. Just not worth it.”

Jamie nodded, smiling again.

“Good policy. Would follow it maself. But can’t pull off dresses, ’m afraid.”

Dani looked at her incredulously.

“That’s not true! What about your prom dress?”

Jamie raised an eyebrow.

“You remember ma prom dress?”

“Yeah! Black with a white like floral kinda design.” Grinning, Dani had taken her hand out of her pocket and gestured to the skirt of her own dress to indicate _accurately_ where the design had been on Jamie’s. “You looked beautiful.”

Jamie saw her own shock reflected on Dani’s face. And, yes, Dani's cheeks were definitely pink now. As Jamie tried to process, she saw Dani look away and take a healthy swig from her cup. For a few moments, neither of them said anything, then Dani held out her cup.

“Do you want some?”

Jamie raised her eyebrow again, then realized she hadn't stopped staring at Dani. The conclusion Dani had drawn was a logical and less embarrassing one. Jamie cleared her throat, but before she could decline, Dani spoke up again.

“I don’t mind.”

Well... all right. Dani Clayton had _inexplicably_ just called her beautiful and was now offering to share a drink with her. Maybe Owen’s insistence she attend their five-year reunion was paying off, after all.

She'd spoken too soon. She was ready to crawl under a rock and die now — she was already halfway there.

“Sorry, I - I should’ve... you don’t like red wine?”

Jamie had just spit it out, rather violently. But it was too late, anyway. She tried to laugh, but it came out strangled.

“Not really... since... ’m allergic.”

“Oh... ohhhh my god, oh my god!”

Jamie’s breathing was becoming labored as her throat closed up. She lost her grip on the the cup.

“I’m so sorry!”

She felt Dani put a hand on the small of her back and grip her arm as she started to lose her balance. It should’ve had the same effect on her that Dani pulling her into a hug when they’d first run into each other an hour ago had had. Maybe it had. At the moment, her body was already tingling all of over — oxygen deprivation and all.

“Not... your fault.”

“Do you have an EpiPen?”

Dani sounded on the verge of tears now, and Jamie hated herself for putting Dani through this.

“Owen.”

******

Owen had hoped to find Jamie and Dani together — especially after Dani, smiling shyly, had come to him asking if he knew where his sister was — but not like this.

He turned as Dani came sprinting through the gym doors, barefoot, dragging a barely conscious Jamie and screaming his name. Not that she’d needed to say his name specifically, or any name. All eyes immediately turned to them and a hush fell over the room, accentuating the now inappropriately upbeat 2010’s pop blaring through the speakers.

“Wine?”

He’d made it to them in an instant, thanks to quite a bit of shoving — it really was on their classmates for not getting out of the way — but his voice was calm.

He had to stay focused, especially considering he’d only done this once before. They’d take a trip to Paris to celebrate his graduation from culinary school; and Jamie, not speaking a word of French, had unwittingly ordered a red wine-infused chocolate cake. He would’ve stopped her, obviously, but he’d been in the bathroom when she’d ordered.

He removed the EpiPen from the inside pocket of his blazer, flipping open the cap and sliding the injector out of the carrier tube. Dani was practically sobbing, even quivering a bit.

“I’m so - ”

“Can you lay her down?”

He didn’t mean to be rude, giving her a reassuring, if tight, smile. But time really was of the essence. Dani nodded, wordlessly. He knelt down, removing the safety release, as Dani lifted Jamie’s arm off her shoulders, keeping her other hand around Jamie’s waist as she gently lowered her to the laminated wood floor.

Jamie was gasping, choking, red-faced. Her eyes fluttered closed as her back hit the floor.

“Jamie!”

That was Dani. Owen gripped Jamie’s leg and stuck the injector into her outer thigh, holding it in place for three seconds before removing it. Exhaling, he took Jamie’s hand, sat back on his heels and turned to Dani.

“Can you call 911?”

Dani eyes grew even wider, and Owen cursed himself for being so blunt.

“She’ll be okay... Really.” He could already hear Jamie’s breathing regulating. “It’s just standard procedure. She’ll need another dose, and they’ll want to keep her under observation.”

Dani nodded after a moment, exhaling. She only looked slightly relieved, though.

“Right, of course.”

He saw her dig her hand into the pocket of her dress, but not before seeing where it had been. Dani hadn’t let go of Jamie’s other hand and had been holding it in _both_ of hers. Even now, she was still holding it with her own left hand. He smiled warmly, wishing Jamie were conscious enough to notice it herself.

“Thank you, by the way.”

“What?”

Dani looked up from her phone, still quite pale.

“For getting her to me so quickly. You did everything right.”

Dani looked down again, dialing.

“Aside from poisoning her in the first place?”

Her tone wasn’t sheepish, more bitter, actually. Owen felt his smile falter.

“There was no way you could’ve known. It’s not your fault.”

Dani coughed out a humorless laugh.

“That’s what she said.”

“Well, she’s right.”

“Yeah?” Dani looked up from her phone again. “Whose is it, then?”

Before Owen could respond, Dani stood up and walked out into the hallway, bringing the phone to her ear.

******

“Dani?”

Dani — hands in her hair, pacing at the foot of Jamie’s hospital bed — turned to find Jamie looking at her rather quizzically. Dani almost collapsed in relief, which was a tad dramatic.

It’s not like Jamie was dire straits anymore, hadn’t been for hours. She’d even regained consciousness in the ambulance, apparently. But by the time Dani had made it to the hospital, Jamie had been given a second dose and understandably fallen asleep. So, Dani hadn’t had a chance to speak with her until now.

She finished running her hands through her hair as she rushed to Jamie’s side.

“Oh, thank God!” It came out breathless. “How are you?” _Seriously?!_ “How are you feeling?”

Jamie was still looking at her strangely.

“Uh, fine.” Dani gasped slightly as Jamie reached over a moment later and took her hand, finally smiling, if a bit wanly. “Really, Dani. S’all good.”

Dani wanted to object, but she was still staring at their hands.

“What’re ya doin’ here?”

Dani felt her cheeks burn even before she jerked her head back up. She went to respond but didn’t know what to say. And then she noticed Jamie blushing.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean it like that. Just don’t remember seein’ ya in the ambulance.”

“Oh.” Dani exhaled in relief. “No, yeah, I drove here."

It hadn’t been hard to figure out where they’d taken her. There was only one hospital in the small Iowa town.

"Put my shoes back on, of course.”

Dani laughed awkwardly.

“Oh.”

Jamie somehow looked even more confused now. _This_. This was her moment. They were already holding hands. But then another thought interrupted her.

“Owen!”

Jamie seemed to snap herself out something, then raised an eyebrow.

“Owen?”

Dani swallowed.

“Yeah, he’s - he’s here. In the cafeteria. I'll go get him!”

She turned away but felt Jamie resist, tugging her hand slightly to keep in her place. She turned back to find her smirking.

“Let ’im eat. Must be desperate if he settled for this shite.” Dani laughed, looking over as Jamie nodded at the unopened jello on her tray. “Wait, what time is it?”

Dani turned back to her.

“Umm, I don’t know.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. She didn’t know _exactly_ time what it was.

“Christ, Dani! It’s midnight!” She felt her cheeks blush as Jamie turned away from the clock on the wall and back to her. “You should - you should be... ”

Dani laughed slightly as Jamie stuttered, sensing an opportunity.

“Yes?”

Jamie glared at her, but Dani couldn’t help grinning as she saw color rise her neck to her cheeks. But then Dani felt the color drain from her own face as Jamie dropped her hand and stared down at her blanket, suddenly rather sullen.

“Sorry.”

It was quiet, mumbled almost, and Jamie was wringing her hands.

“Jamie?”

Dani gingerly sat down on the edge of her bed, hesitated for a moment, then reached over and placed her hand on top of Jamie’s, stilling them. Jamie continued looking down.

“I ruined your night.”

“What? No, you didn’t.”

Jamie finally looked up, raising her eyebrow again.

“You missed the reunion... the reunion _you_ organized.”

“Oh.” Dani almost laughed, feeling both relieved to understand what was bothering her and rather foolish for having missed the obvious. “Well, yeah.”

Jamie started to look down again.

“No, I - _this_ was all _my_ fault." Jamie jerked her head back up, clearly wanting to push back. So Dani continued. "And I didn’t want to go, anyway.”

Jamie furrowed her brow, a hint of amusement in her hazel eyes.

“You didn't?”

Dani laughed and looked away, feeling herself blush.

“ _Honestly_... I only like organized it ’cause I had to.”

Perks of her teen self deciding class president would look good on college apps.

“I mean, I was hoping to run into someone, but... ”

She turned back to Jamie, smirking. But Jamie was looking down again. Dani sighed internally.

She'd figured it might be difficult to get through to Jamie. On top of the fact that they hadn’t seen each in five years and had only met their senior year when Jamie and Owen had moved to her hometown from England, she’d ascertained even in that brief period of time that Jamie was actually far less confident and far more sensitive than she wanted people to believe.

It was actually one of the things that had drawn her to Jamie — not that she didn’t want her to feel confident or worthy of love, obviously. It was rather that Jamie was empathetic, remarkably so. Even within a relatively limited scope of interactions, Jamie had made her feel seen in a way no one else ever had.

Not her high school boyfriend, Eddie, even when they’d just been childhood friends. Not Eddie’s mom, Judy — though that probably had more to do with Dani concealing so much of herself from her, especially as she’d gotten older. And certainly not her own mother, or even her father since he’d died when she was in elementary school.

She’d always felt this kinship with Jamie, almost from the moment they’d met. But she hadn’t known what to make of it at the time. _No_. She hadn’t been brave enough to act on it at the time — or any time in the intervening five years.

She’d thought of Facebook messaging or slipping into her Insta DMs so many times. But what was she supposed to say?

_Hey, remember me?_ _You probably think I’m straight, but I’m not... not that I know that you’re not. I’d always assumed - not because you’re a stereotype or anything! Or that I believe in stereotypes! Anyway... wanna get a drink with me sometime?_

And this was completely ignoring the fact that Jamie didn’t even live in the country anymore, having moved back home shortly after graduation. But Owen did, albeit New York. So, when it had come to time to start planning the reunion, Dani had started to formulate a plan.

She sighed for real now.

“Jamie?” The brunette looked up slowly, sullen again. “I have a confession to make.”

That evidently piqued her curiosity, though she mostly looked confused.

“It wasn’t a coincidence that I, umm, that I hired Owen to cater the reunion.”

Jamie cocked her head.

“Well, I didn’t _think_ it was... ”

Dani almost gaped at her. Maybe this would be easier than she’d thought. But then she realized what Jamie meant and felt like an idiot.

“No, yeah, I - I hired him because he went here... and because he’s a great chef... but there was, umm, another reason, too.”

Jamie raised her eyebrows, then immediately looked away, blushing. She pulled her right hand out from under Dani’s and rubbed the back of her neck.

“Sorry, this is... awkward.” _Oh, god_. “Owen, uh, has a girlfriend... Hannah. Not that you need to know her name. You don’t know - ”

_Oh. My. God._ Dani didn’t even realize she’d burst out laughing until Jamie turned back to her in alarm.

“Dani?”

For some reason, her wide-eyed gaze made Dani laugh even harder. But then she started to feel bad. Jamie looked genuinely concerned. She cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure, and then just came out with it.

“I asked Owen because I was hoping that if he agreed... that you might show up, too. To the reunion.”

Jamie cocked her head again.

“ _Me?”_

Dani nodded, grinning. She would’ve thought she’d feel nervous. But now that she was finally doing it, she felt... lighter. Still, she decided to look down at their hands rather than her face.

“Jamie, I kinda had a crush on you in high school.” She shook her head. “That’s a lie. I had like a _massive_ crush on you.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you SO much to everyone who's read, commented, subscribed, etc! This is my first major attempt at a multi-chapter story, so your support is very much appreciated!! Also new tags added!

_“You alright?”_

_The answer was fairly obvious and confirmed when the other girl, kneeling on the floor while rifling through a backpack in front of an open locker, immediately froze. But Jamie didn’t know what else to say. She wasn’t friends with her, hadn’t even met her properly, having been at this wretched new school for all of one day. And yet, she had already noticed her a couple times. Danielle Clayton was hard to miss._

_“Yeah.”_

_She was also a bad liar, apparently._

_Jamie approached cautiously as Danielle began digging into her backpack again._

_“You, uh… want some help?”_

_“I know I... p-put it in here... somewhere.”_

_Danielle was hyperventilating, shaking, so Jamie decided to stop worrying about being polite — not that she’d ever really worried about it before. She surged forward, grabbing the backpack._

_“Your phone in here?”_

_Danielle turned to look up at her in alarm — well, more alarm. Wide-eyed and pale, she just stared at her… for so long Jamie was about to ask again. But then Danielle shook her head, wordlessly._

_“And what you’re lookin’ for, is it fragile?”_

_She shook her head again, and Jamie immediately turned the backpack upside down and shook hard. Averting her gaze, she heard a predictable assortment of books, pens and pencils hitting the floor, along with various other small objects she couldn’t identify._

_After a few moments, Danielle squealed, then uncapped something and took a deep but shaky breath. That was followed by another sound, then silence until Danielle gasped._

_Before Jamie could ask if she was alright, Danielle repeated the process. And that’s when Jamie figured it out. She was using an inhaler._

_“Thank you.”_

_Danielle was still catching her breath, but she sounded better. Jamie smiled slightly to herself._

_“Anytime.”_

_Danielle continued breathing a bit heavily but then abruptly stopped._

_“Oh, god… you’re - you’re Jamie Taylor, aren’t you?”_

_It wasn’t said with excitement nor derision, more like dread. Jamie cleared her throat as she felt her cheeks blush._

_“Sounds like ya already know the answer.”_

_“I’m sorry.”_

_Now she sounded on the verge of tears. Brow furrowed, Jamie looked down to find her sitting against the open locker, hers presumably._

_“For what?”_

_Danielle looked up at her._

_“I was - I was supposed to give you a tour of the school at lunch.”_

_Jamie felt her eyebrows rise. All the guidance counselor had told her was that the senior class president would be giving a tour._

_Admittedly, she had been a bit annoyed at being stood up — resentful, to be more specific, especially since Owen had the first lunch period, so she’d had no one to hang with. Granted, she could’ve made an effort. But she’d been burned enough times to know it wasn’t worth the effort. Besides, she would only be at the school for nine months._

_But seeing Danielle’s bottom lip start to quiver, her anger dissipated before could it even reignite._

_“I’m so sorry!” Danielle looked down at her hands, which she was wringing in her lap. “I got… distracted, and - ”_

_“Hey, hey, s’fine.”_

_Jamie crouched down beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder as she returned the backpack to the floor with her other. Danielle shook her head, and Jamie saw a tear trickle down her cheek. She gently squeezed her shoulder._

_“Really. It’s okay.” Jamie smirked slightly. “I survived, didn’t I?”_

_Jamie’s smirk widened as Danielle coughed out a watery laugh and turned to her, a ghost of a smile on her lips. She sniffled._

_“I’m still sorry.” She chucked again and nodded toward her backpack. “Especially considering… ”_

_“Danielle… ”_

_“How do you know my name?”_

_Jamie felt her face flush, and she suddenly became very aware that her hand was still on Danielle’s shoulder. But Danielle wasn’t giving her accusatory look. In fact, she was... grinning._

_Jamie felt her heart flutter. First she’d made her laugh, and now she’d made her smile. And it wasn’t the smile she’d seen from afar throughout the day, the one none of her friends seemed to realize was fake._

_“I, uh… ” Jamie cleared her throat. “I’ve just heard it, ya know… around.”_

_It was the truth. Danielle was quite popular. Despite herself, Jamie smiled sheepishly as Danielle’s grin widened._

_“I prefer Dani, actually.”_

_“Oh.”_

_Jamie’s smile faltered. Had she misheard before? But then she felt Danielle tense up as she looked back down at her hands, laughing awkwardly._

_“It hasn’t really caught on.”_

_“Oh.”_

_Jamie felt her cheeks burning in second-hand embarrassment. Why would Dani volunteer that, any of this? And to her, of all people. But she tried for a reassuring smile._

_“Well, Dani, it is.”_

_Dani looked up back and literally beamed at her._

_Jamie didn’t want to look away; but after a few moments, her heart was in danger of slicing through her ribs, and her hand was in danger of soaking Dani’s blouse. Clearing her throat, she removed her hand from Dani’s shoulder, placing it on her own bent knee, which was peeking out through ripped jeans, and looked down._

_“Never been a trendsetter before.” She heard Dani laugh again, brightly this time, and smiled to herself. “Can’t make any promises.”_

_Dani laughed yet again._

_“That’s fair… wait, shouldn’t you be in class?”_

_Jamie turned back to her, smirking._

_“Gonna tell on me, Madame President?”_

_Dani gaped at her, color flooding her cheeks. It was a painfully cute sight to behold._

_“No! Sorry, I - ”_

_Jamie felt a wave of guilt wash over._

_“Relax, Dani. I was just kiddin’.”_

_“Oh.” As Dani smiled at her sheepishly, Jamie relaxed herself, tugging her smirk back into place. “And, for the record, I was on ma way to the bathroom when I saw… ”_

_“Oh.”_

_Dani blushed again, then cocked her head._

_“Is that why you have a cigarette behind your ear?”_

_Jamie’s face burned as she instinctively brought her hand up. She’d thought her curls were covering it. But she couldn’t help smiling. Dani was looking at her curiously, almost child-like. She hadn’t meant it as a dig, Jamie could tell. She’d just made an observation._

_Jamie shrugged._

_“Bathroom break’s a bathroom break, right?”_

_With that, Jamie stood up and shook out her legs slightly, her thighs burning from crouching._

_“Wait.”_

_Jamie chuckled._

_“Sorta stretchin’ the believability of ma ruse, Dani.”_

_She turned to find her blushing again._

_“Right.” She chuckled. “That was mine, too, actually, so I should - ” She cleared her throat. “I, umm, I was just wondering if you have plans after school.”_

_Jamie raised an eyebrow, growing even more confused when Dani blushed even harder._

_“The tour!” Dani swallowed. “I - I have time after school… if you do.”_

_Dani then bit her lip, which Jamie also found curious. What did she have to be nervous about? It’s not like this was an impromptu tour, just a few hours delayed – if she agreed to it._

_Jamie had planned on getting out of here as soon as possible. It was already halfway through last period. And she wanted to catch up with Owen._

_Inevitably, he would be very chipper, excitedly rambling about his classes and new friends. Owen could get along with pretty much anyone; and as much as she teased him about it, she admired him for it, too. And she was grateful for it. He was the reason they’d become best friends, siblings._

_But, for once, someone besides Owen was offering,_ asking _to hang out with her. For a designated, school-sanctioned purpose, but still. She smirked._

_“It’s a date.”_

  
  


******

“You... what?

Jamie had opened and closed her mouth several times before responding. And, still, that was the best she could come up with. She felt more out-of-body now than she had all night, which was saying something since she’d literally had a near-death experience a few hours ago.

Dani looked up, her smile faltering as she bit her lip. 

“Do you - do you actually need me to say it again?”

“No, uh, sorry.” Jamie cleared her throat. “I just… who the hell knew?”

Dani didn’t bite her lip again, but she didn’t look that relieved.

“So you really had no idea?”

Jamie furrowed her brow. In the short time they’d known each other, Dani had always been friendly, always been kind and, yes, affectionate — verbally and physically. But that was Dani. Jamie was nothing special. Why would she have assumed Dani felt differently?

“I, uh… well, I can be pretty thick. You know that.”

Dani laughed, a bit nervously. But she laughed. Jamie felt her cheeks burn as her mouth curved into a lopsided grin. Dani was the only person who’d ever made her smile like that.

“Yeah, I guess I do.” Dani blanched. “No offense.”

Jamie giggled. _Jesus_ , what was happening to her?

“I’m the one who said it, Poppins.”

Dani smiled sheepishly, her cheeks tinged pink.

“Right, right.”

Dani looked back at their hands. Jamie’s breath hitched as she felt Dani rub her knuckles with her thumb.

“And you… ”

Jamie cocked her head.

“How, umm - do you - _did_ you… ya know… ”

Jamie’s cheeks were set ablaze.

“Maybe,” she croaked.

Dani looked up again, and Jamie could see the hopefulness in her eyes, mixed with fear. Jamie sighed and now looked down herself. Dani had put herself on the line. Jamie owed it to her to be honest, too.

“I did, yeah.”

She heard Dani exhale.

“And… now?”

Her voice trembled slightly. But Jamie couldn’t help smirking. She looked up.

“Think ya oughta answer that first yaself.”

Dani laughed.

“Jamie, why would I have brought it up in the first place?”

Jamie felt herself blanch. Her head was still so foggy from Dani’s confession she hadn’t fully processed the motivation behind it, even though Dani had spelled it out, _twice_ now. Jamie cleared her throat.

“Fair point… in that case… I mean, it’s you, Dani. So, yeah.”

Jamie exhaled but found herself smiling. She hadn’t realized how much she’d wanted to say that. She’d never allowed herself to be that honest, even with Owen — even with herself.

Dani’s face, meanwhile, shifted from suspense to surprise to confusion to relief before settling on… elation?

Beaming, she giggled. And Jamie couldn’t help giggling again herself. Then Dani looked away and sighed, quite dramatically, and seemingly quite contentedly.

“Thank fuck.”

“Dani!”

Jamie had never heard her curse before, like at all. Not even PG swears. Dani turned back to her, giggling again, and Jamie felt her squeeze her hand.

“ _Someone_ may have influenced me a bit.”

******

Hannah barely saw the woman in time. She stopped, clutching the takeaway bag even tighter, as the woman cut in front of her before stopping abruptly herself with a gasp, a few droplets of her coffee spilling onto her hand. 

“Sorry!”

The woman’s eyes were wide but almost glazed over. She looked familiar, even though Hannah was sure she’d never met her. As the woman put her head back down and started to walk away, issuing another hurried apology, Hannah placed her.

“Dani?”

The woman froze and turned back to her, looking even more alarmed.

“Sorry, you don’t know me. But I know Owen… and Jamie.”

“Oh.”

She extended her hand as Dani visibly relaxed, still looking a bit confused.

“Hannah.”

“ _Oh_.”

Hannah smiled. Evidently, Dani had heard of her as well. Dani smiled herself but then it faded.

“Umm, is Jamie… I mean, it’s fine obviously if she, umm… ” Dani huffed. “Is she okay?”

Hannah sighed. It wasn’t really her place, but Dani looked genuinely concerned. She could relate. 

“She will be. She _is_ , considering… ”

Dani looked even tenser.

“Considering?”

Hannah gaped at her, just for a moment before regaining her composure. She shouldn’t have assumed. She’d only just flown in herself after Owen’s call. With a small smile, she reached over and gripped Dani’s arm.

“Why don’t you come with me, dear? I just picked up dinner for her and Owen.”

She lifted the bag slightly and saw Dani glance down, then back at her. Hannah could see the corners of her mouth turning up, but her eyes remained uneasy.

“I - I don’t want to intrude.”

Hannah felt her smile widen. Dani was exactly as an eager Owen and reluctant Jamie had described.

“It’ll be good for her. Trust me.”

******

“S’unlocked.”

Dani recognized the gruff voice immediately and still jumped. She heard Hannah exhale beside her.

“What are you doing sitting in the dark, love?”

Hannah flipped on the porch light, illuminating Jamie. She was sitting on a swing on the right end of the porch, head down, holding a bottle of wine. She shrugged.

“There’s someone here to see you.”

Jamie laughed, though there didn’t seem to be much amusement behind it.

“Usin’ third person’s a bit pretentious, Hannah, even for you.”

“She means me.”

Jamie finally looked up, blinking. Even from a distance and in the relatively dim light, Dani could see her face was flushed and a bit puffy. 

“Dani?”

Her tone, on the other hand, was suddenly quite exuberant. Dani felt her heart melt as a dopey smile spread across her face.

“Make sure she eats… please.”

Dani turned to Hannah — who was smiling herself in that same refined manner she had outside the coffee shop — as Hannah handed her a to-go container. Dani nodded, then they both turned back to Jamie.

“I’ll be inside if you need me, okay?”

Jamie turned to Hannah, nodding.

“Thanks.”

As Hannah closed the door behind her, Dani started making her way over.

“Tempting fate?”

Jamie gave her a blank look, then followed her gaze down to the bottle and chuckled.

“It’s white.”

Jamie held it out. Smiling, Dani held up her coffee cup.

“I’m good, thanks.”

Jamie dropped the bottle, suddenly pale. As it hit the wood below, the bottle tipped over, spilling out toward Dani. But Dani’s eyes were still locked on Jamie, who was now holding her head in hands.

“Fuck!”

Jamie groaned loudly. Dani wanted to do the same. She’d come here to comfort her and immediately made things worse.

“Jamie, it’s okay.”

She rushed over, nearly tripping on the bottle. She put Jamie’s dinner on the cushion next to her, her cup on the porch and off to the side, then knelt down in front of Jamie, gently rubbing her upper arms.

“I’m... sorry! I... forgot!”

Tears were dripping from Jamie’s chin, and she’d started hiccuping. Her voice was slightly muffled by her hands, though Dani could still smell the wine on her breath.

“I know. Hannah told me… what happened.”

“She did?”

Jamie’s voice jumped an octave. Dani took a deep breath.

“I’m so sorry, Jamie... I know how painful it is to lose a parent.”

Jamie finally looked up, sniffling.

“You… do?”

Dani nodded. 

“My dad.”

“Oh, I’m… I’m so sorry… Dani.”

Dani couldn’t help but smile. She knew Jamie had no idea how sweet she was, even though it was clearly instinctive.

“It’s okay. It happened a long time ago.”

Jamie nodded, then sniffled again.

“She’s Owen’s... mum. _Was_ Owen’s mum.” Jamie laughed awkwardly. “More of a... mum to me than ma… ma own mum, though.”

Dani felt her heart clench. She wasn’t sure what to say to that. But she felt even worse when Jamie sat up, rubbing her face, then shook her head. 

“Sorry… ” Jamie groaned as she hiccuped yet again, then sniffled. “Long story.”

Dani took Jamie’s hands as she lowered them to her lap.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Jamie just stared at her, continuing to hiccup, then slowly smiled — her crooked smile, Dani’s favorite.

“Thanks, but I… I’d rather... stop talkin’.”

Dani laughed and squeezed Jamie’s hands.

“Okay, I’ll talk then.”

She settled on classroom anecdotes, both from her days as a student teacher and her first eight months at their alma mater, pausing only to remind Jamie to eat and drink water and to do so herself — Jamie had insisted, despite’s Dani’s pushback, that they split the burger upon deducing Dani hadn’t had dinner yet either.

Fortunately, Jamie’s hiccups had subsided quickly enough, and her laughter didn’t retrigger them. She seemed to be doing much better. In fact, this bubbly side of her was something Dani had never seen — a result of Jamie never allowing herself to be this vulnerable, she supposed. 

Jamie even snuggled up against her under the blanket she’d retrieved from inside after Dani put her arm around her. And before Dani made through even half her stories, she realized Jamie had fallen asleep on her shoulder. 

Eventually, Jamie’s head started slipping and migrated to her lap, with a bit of help. But it was Jamie alone — lying on her back, her head and half her chest peeking out from under the blanket — who wrapped her arms around Dani’s arm, which Dani had lightly placed on her stomach. 

Just as Dani started to drift off herself — feeling more at peace than she had in years, maybe ever — she heard her.

“Mum… Mum, don’t… Mum, please… ”

She felt Jamie start to shake and squeeze her arm. Sitting up straighter, she cupped Jamie’s face with her free hand.

“Jamie.”

Jamie continued to call out — louder, more desperate now — as her breathing became heavy and erratic.

“Jamie! … Jamie, you’re okay! … You’re safe.”

Dani’s hand trembled slightly as she rubbed her thumb across Jamie’s now clammy cheek.

“NO! … Mum, _please_! … DON’T!”

Tears were streaming down Jamie’s face once more, and her grip on Dani’s arm was becoming painful.

“Jamie, wake up! … Jamie! … JAMIE!”

Jamie’s eyes flung open, then she flung herself, rolling onto the porch, right into the wine puddle that hadn’t fully evaporated, blanket in tow. 

“Jamie, you’re okay. You’re safe.”

Wild-eyed, Jamie scrambled to sit up, then scrambled away on a diagonal until her back hit the porch fence a couple feet from the set of stairs leading down to the front yard. Dani stood up, approaching cautiously.

“Jamie, it’s me. Dani. You’re at home. It was a dream. A bad dream.”

Jamie remained frozen in alarm, hyperventilating now. Dani quickly moved to the other side of the porch and turned the light back on. She’d turned it off about an hour ago, shortly before Jamie had fallen asleep. She heard Jamie yelp and turned to find her shielding her eyes, already squeezed shut, with her arm.

She approached cautiously again but crouched down in front of her, gently taking Jamie’s free hand in both of hers. 

“It’s okay, Jamie. It’s just me.” 

She felt Jamie’s hand twitch slightly, then go limp. Then, her arm came down and her shoulders slumped. Still breathing heavily but a bit more slowly, Jamie opened her eyes, blinking a few times. Dani smiled softly.

“Hey.”

Jamie looked down.

“I’m sorry.”

It was barely above whisper.

Dani started massaging her hand.

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

“I - ”

Jamie started to look up, then gasped. Dani followed her gaze. There were faint bruises forming on her forearm and just above her elbow.

“Oh m’god.”

Dani turned back. Jamie was even paler now and hyperventilating again.

“Jamie - ”

“Oh m’god.”

“I’m fine.”

“I can’t - I - ”

“It was an accident.” 

“ _Dani_.”

Her voice cracked, and the tears broke free again. Dani felt her wrench her hand away; and before she could stop her, Jamie stood up shakily and stumbled into the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... left it on another cliffhanger. Please don't hate me.
> 
> I'm on Tumblr @comic-book-jawns


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all! This is a bit of a longer chapter. And a bit of a whirlwind. But I think the cliffhanger should be satisfying this time ;)
> 
> And S/O to @Moonflower24 for this recommendation: from now on, all flashbacks will be indicated in italics. Also, new tags and characters... and summary! 
> 
> As always, kudos, comments and subscriptions are much appreciated!

_“What did you tell, Bex?”_

_Peter’s voice was low. They were alone, but in public, and Jamie could tell he was actually enraged._

_She was lounging on a bench outside the front entrance to the school, reading while waiting for Owen to finish band practice. She could’ve walked. But why deny herself the opportunity to tease him about being a trumpeter as she did every week while he drove them home?_

_Peter had approached her in a huff on his way to baseball practice judging from the bat, which she could see out of the corner of her eye, sticking out of one of the two backpacks he had slung over his shoulders._

_She’d seen this coming in a sense. Rebecca had clearly taken him back, as she always did, and confessed who’d “swayed” her to “take a break.” She wasn’t judging her, really. She, of all people, knew the pain of loving someone who didn’t treat you well. And, in a way, she’d had it easier._

_Louise had left before she could even grapple with whether she wanted to keep her in her life. Her mother had made that choice for both of them._

_So it wasn’t that she didn’t empathize with Rebecca. That was the reason she’d started talking to her in the first place, checking in with her during their English class. It was just frustrating to watch Rebecca keep making the same mistake no matter what she did._

_“I didn’t tell her anythin’ she didn’t already know.”_

_Jamie kept her voice low, too, but her tone was decidedly cool. And she didn’t look up from her book —_ Anna Karenina _, ironically._

_“Well, it better not happen again.”_

_Jamie raised an eyebrow, still looking down._

_“’M not allowed to talk to her? That might be a tad awkward considerin’ we’re writin’ a term paper together.”_

_She almost laughed as she heard Peter grunt._

_“She knows not to talk about_ us _now, so it doesn’t matter.”_

_She knew exactly who Peter was trying to convince, and it wasn’t her. She saw him straighten up. As he turned away, she put the book down and got to her feet. Peter was nearly a foot taller than her, so she had to crane her neck to address him._

_“Ya don’t love her. She’ll figure that out, eventually.”_

_Jamie said it with more conviction than she felt, and it struck a nerve as she’d intended. Peter whirled back around, his face contorting in rage, before settling into a glare._

_“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”_

_Jamie raised an eyebrow again._

_“No? So you hit her_ lovin’ly _, then?_

_Jamie saw the slap coming a mile away. But she didn’t move, didn’t care. Better he take it out on her than Rebecca. She’d grown inured to such treatment at a young age._

_Still, she couldn’t help stumbling back into the bench, looking down as her knees buckled slightly against its bottom edge. Peter was indeed as strong as he looked._

_“Peter! Leave her alone!”_

_She’d recognize that voice anywhere — though, in this instance, they were, of course, still on school grounds._

_“Stay out of it, Clayton!”_

_She could hear Dani running, and as she looked up, Dani was stepping between them, a blazing look in her eyes. As Jamie straightened up — her head feeling fuzzy for an entirely different reason now, even as her cheek throbbed — she saw, over Dani’s shoulder, that Peter was sneering at Dani._

_“This doesn’t concern you.”_

_Dani didn’t flinch, physically or vocally._

_“If it concerns her, it concerns me.”_

_“Dani - ”_

_But Dani held up a hand, indicating she’d heard her but was going to ignore her. Jamie groaned internally. Dani was just being nice, she knew — social justice warrior and all — but she wasn’t worth it._

_“Apologize.”_ No… God, no. _“Apologize to her, Peter.”_

_“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”_

_Peter turned away, but Dani fuckin’ reached out and grabbed his elbow._ What was she thinking?! _Once again, Peter whirled around, shaking her off. But this time, he reached up and drew the bat from his backpack._

_Jamie felt her heart drop to her stomach._

_“Dani, get outta here… Now!”_

_After a moment, Dani still hadn’t complied, so Jamie grabbed_ her _elbow and pulled her back, stepping in front of her._

_“Jamie!”_

_She ignored her, staring Peter down as he began raising the bat._

_For a few moments, she really thought he was gonna do it and prayed she’d be able to shield Dani sufficiently. But he swung the bat over their heads in a 180 and struck a light post on the curb in front of them. It clattered harshly. Peter hadn’t held back… for a reason. He glanced back, giving them a pointed look, then stormed off._

_“Oh my god.”_

_Dani sounded breathless. Jamie whipped around to find her sitting down on the bench shakily._

_“Need your inhaler?”_

_Jamie was already crouching to grab her backpack, which Dani had evidently dropped on the sidewalk before stepping in front of her. But then she felt a hand on her shoulder._

_“No, I’m… I’m okay, Jamie.”_

_She could hear Dani’s breathing evening out, but she was still worried Dani was trying to downplay her quite natural reaction. She turned to her, stilling gripping her backpack._

_“You sure?”_

_Dani smiled. It was clearly meant to be reassuring, but it was rather wan, and Dani was pale._

_“Yeah.”_

_Jamie still felt uneasy, but she knew pushing Dani wouldn’t help._

_“Okay.”_

_She rested Dani’s backpack against the bench, then released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding as she rocked back on her heels and sat down on the sidewalk, loosely hugging her knees, which were spaced far enough apart for her to duck her head down, almost between them._

_For almost a minute neither of them said anything. Dani, naturally, was the first to break._

_“Are_ you _okay?”_

_Jamie looked up._

_“What? Oh. No, yeah, ’m fine.”_

_Dani fixed her with a look that Jamie knew she would use on students someday, and Jamie felt her breath hitch._ Jesus Christ _, she needed to get a grip. She looked down again._

 _“Jamie, I_ saw _him slap you.”_

_“S’fine.”_

_“At least let me get you some ice.”_

_Jamie looked up, chuckling. Dani was unrelenting._

_“From where?”_

_“I, umm, I can break into the nurse’s office.”_

_Jamie felt her eyebrows shoot up._

_“S’cuse me?”_

_Dani was biting her lip, and Jamie felt her heart flutter._

_“I - well, I have bobby pins… and I could probably, umm, find a YouTube video.”_

_Jamie burst out laughing, feeling a bit bad as Dani blushed — though she couldn’t bring herself to regret making her do so. But before Dani’s face could turn beet-red, she cut herself off, clearing her throat._

_“’Preciate it, Dani. I really do.” She grinned as Dani relaxed, smiling shyly. “But I really am okay.” She coughed out a laugh, a bit darker than she’d intended. “S’not ma first rodeo.”_

_That, evidently, was_ not _the right thing to say. She could see in Dani’s eyes that she wasn’t particularly surprised by her admission, which was… curious. And then Dani pressed her lips together._

_“Why did Peter come after you?” She went wide-eyed before Jamie could even react. “Not that I’m saying it was your fault! I know it - ”_

_“No, it kinda was.”_

_Jamie laughed bitterly again._

_“Jamie, I have to report him. I mean, he - he assaulted you.”_

_“S’fine.”_

_Dani had no proof other than her own eye-witness testimony. Nothing would happen, except that things might get worse for Rebecca in retaliation. Peter would probably tell Rebecca it was_ her _fault for getting him mixed up with Jamie._

_She dropped Dani’s gaze and stood up, brushing herself off, more so she’d have something to do with her hands._

_“I can handle him.”_

_“Oh, yeah? What would you have done if I hadn’t shown up?”_

_Jamie looked up to find Dani standing, too, just a few inches from her with that blazing look in her eyes again._

_“Dani - ”_

_“He could’ve killed you, Jamie!”_

_Jamie went to object, though she couldn't tell even_ herself _in full confidence that Dani wasn’t right. But Dani cut her off._

_“Why didn’t you run?”_

_“Why didn’t_ you _?”_

_It wasn’t rhetorical. Jamie was genuinely at a loss. Dani’s SJW complex didn’t explain her behavior, not completely. Dani’s mouth hung open slightly as her eyes widened. Then, she bit her lip again and blushed for some reason. Then, she swallowed._

_“Well, you should’ve.”_

_“Maybe I would’ve if I hadn’t had to protect_ you _.”_

_It was a lie; but Dani had gotten on her case first, and two could play at that game. Dani blushed even harder._

_“I - well… ” Dani huffed. “I wasn’t just gonna stand there and do nothing.”_

_“Why?”_

_“Jamie - ”_

_Jamie could feel anger rising within herself, though she wasn’t quite sure why._

_“Why, Dani?”_

_Dani gulped._

_“I - I don’t know... I just - ”_

_“What was the good in helpin’ me this time when ya won’t be there the next?!”_

_Dani gaped at her as she blanched._ Goddammit, _she was no different than Peter. She’d never raised her voice at Dani before, aside from when she’d told her to run. She swallowed, feeling tears stinging her eyes._

_“Dani, I’m so - ”_

_“What makes you think I won’t be?”_

_Dani was looking at her intently. She’d never looked at her like that before, and Jamie felt her breath hitch again. She didn’t know what to make of it, opening and closing her mouth a few times as she tried to formulate a response._

_“I - ”_

_But before Jamie could explain, she didn’t have to._

_“Danielle?”_

_Jamie could also, unfortunately, recognize that voice anywhere. She looked down at their feet, swallowing again, as Dani turned to Eddie, who was pulling up beside them, evidently with the windows rolled down._

_“You ready to go?”_

_Before Dani could look back, Jamie grabbed her book and backpack off the bench, swinging it over her shoulder as she turned around and stepped off the curb into the parking lot, walking behind Eddie’s car. She could read on the hood of her own — well, Owen’s — while she waited. It would only be a few more minutes now, anyway._

_“Jamie!”_

_She sniffed, despite herself, but didn’t look back._

_"See ya tomorrow, Dani.”_

******

“Jay.” There was a knock. “We have to leave for the funeral home soon.”

Jamie grumbled, her head pounding. Yesterday, Owen had said their appointment was at noon. _Oh_ … fuck.

Oh, _fuck_.

Jamie jolted, opening her eyes. She was in her childhood bedroom, lying in bed, and there was an arm wrapped loosely around her waist.

“Hey, it’s okay… you’re okay.”

Dani? ... _Dani Clayton_ was spooning her?!

Jamie sat up and turned around. Dani’s arm slid off, and Dani went wide-eyed as she sat up herself.

“Nothing happened!”

That much Jamie had assumed. She was still fully clothed, and it appeared Dani was as well. And she knew Dani would never do something like that. 

“I - ” She swallowed, her throat aching. “I thought you left.”

“Oh.” Dani frowned. “You - you don’t remember… anything?”

Jamie tried to think.  
  
“I, uh… I know I woke up… and why.” Jamie looked down, her face flushing. She cleared her throat, then winced when it burned. “And then… ”

Nothing.

“Oh.”

Jamie felt a stab of ice in her chest and looked up.

"S’not you… ”

“No, yeah.”

Dani tried for a smile, but it wasn’t convincing.

“ _Why_ didn’t ya… ”

“Hmm?”

“Leave.”

“I was worried about you.”

Dani said it matter-of-factly, as if that should’ve been obvious and was explanation enough.

But Jamie’s head spun — well, it already was from the hangover — but this was different. As she’d said, she remembered having not one but two breakdowns in front of Dani... and injuring her in the process.

Jamie looked down. The bruises were still relatively faint, but they were there nonetheless. Jamie felt a knot forming in her already churning stomach. But before she could so much as apologize again, she looked as up Dani began rambling rapidly, wide-eyed again.

“Not that I - I mean, you came back to close the front door, and - and you still looked upset, so I... I _asked_ if you, umm, wanted to company, and you - you nodded, so… ”

Jamie gaped at her. She knew that was something she would’ve wanted. But she was surprised that she’d actually admitted as much to Dani, that she hadn’t pushed her away. 

Before she could dwell on it further, she realized Dani was biting her lip.

“No, sorry!” She reached over and took Dani’s hand. “I believe ya.” 

Dani exhaled, clearly relieved, then smiled shyly. Jamie took a deep breath.

“I’m glad you stayed.”

Dani’s smile widened as her cheeks turned pink, then she opened her mouth.

“Jay!”

Another knock. Jamie turned toward the door.

“I’ll be out’n a minute!”

It came out exactly as irritated as she felt, and she heard Dani laugh softly. She blushed, smiling sheepishly as she turned back. For a moment, they sat in easy silence. Then, Jamie cleared her throat, wincing again.  
  
“I, uh, have to go… Sorry.”

Dani laughed again.

“Jamie, you don’t have to apologize… although if you have a minute, I can make you something that’ll help with… _that_.”

By her own blushing and apologetic smile, Jamie knew what Dani was referring to. She looked down at their hands, blushing further herself as she chucked.

“Got a lotta experience with it, do ya, Poppins?”

She heard Dani laugh again, but it didn’t sound as light this time.

“No, my… my mom’s an alcoholic.”

 _Oh_. Jamie looked back up, feeling the color drain from her face. 

“Shit… I - I’m sorry.”

Dani laughed, very awkwardly this time, looking down.

“No, it’s… it’s not like it’s a secret. Small town and all.”

The knot in Jamie’s stomach only grew tighter.

“Fuck, ’m a dick.”

Dani whipped her back up, giggling.

“What? No, you’re not.”

Jamie wasn’t sure what to say to that, but apparently, she didn’t have to say anything. Dani only giggled harder as she floundered. The knot dissolved as Jamie felt her the corner of her mouth curve up — though her nauseous was starting to worsen. She exhaled.

“Okay, in that case, I, uh, kinda need ya to get to work on that miracle cure.”

******

“I swear I heard another voice.”

Owen was sitting at the kitchen counter with Hannah having a cuppa. 

Being Brits by birth, they’d had their first date in New York at a tea shop. Owen would’ve preferred making the tea himself, but inviting her to his apartment had seemed rather forward. However, as much as Hannah had tried to hide it, he’d been able to tell almost immediately that she’d also found the tea subpar. 

He’d started to panic, and then realized he was being daft. The restaurant he worked at closed between lunch and dinner, and he might be able to convince the executive chef to let him nip into the kitchen.

The chef had been annoyed at first, unsurprisingly, but ultimately taken pity on him and agreed, on the condition that Owen work every day for the rest of the month. Owen hadn’t really thought through how much more difficult that would make seeing Hannah again soon. 

But they’d made it work and been together ever since. 

“Well, Dani’s car is still here, love.”

“It is?!”

Hannah pressed her lips together like she was trying not to indulge his overreaction. It was one of the many things he loved most about her. She kept him grounded.

But, in this instance, he couldn’t contain his excitement, especially given the past couple days. Granted, Jamie was his sister, not by blood or even by law, but for all intents and purposes. So his enthusiasm about her having an overnight guest and it being Dani would probably have seemed bizarre to anyone else. 

But he wasn’t thinking about _that_. 

He was thinking about how in all the years he’d known Jamie, she’d never gotten close to anyone besides him and his mum, his dad having died shortly after he was born. Dani was the only other person Jamie had come close to letting in. But still, to his knowledge, she’d never hung out with Dani outside of school. She’d certainly never brought Dani here.

And based on what he’d been able to gather from phone calls and visits over the past few years, Jamie spent most of her time in London alone. He was interrupted from his reverie by another thought.

“Wait, I thought you gave her a lift.”

Hannah shook her head as she brought her mug to her lips and took a sip.

“She’d driven into town, too, so she followed me. Which reminds me, has she not been here before?”

Before Owen could answer, they heard footsteps and turned to find said _she_ walking into the kitchen. 

Dani was wearing a black Bastille hoodie — though it wasn’t at all cold, really, inside or outside — that Owen recognized as Jamie’s. He’d been with her when she’d bought it at one of their concerts back in London. She’d been 15 at the time, but it still fit her now — and evidently, Dani as well.

His mum had taken them to the concert for _his_ 16th birthday, but he’d secretly asked her to do so for Jamie’s sake — Jamie having never been to a concert before, ever. 

Both he and his mum had then tried to buy the hoodie for Jamie afterwards — it had been overpriced to begin with, naturally — but Jamie had ardently insisted on using her own money, the little she’d saved up since she’d started working part-time at a Tesco a few months back.

Dani blushed and smiled shyly, upon locking eyes with him and Hannah, but to her credit, didn’t freeze. 

“Umm, she’s just getting ready.”

Owen had figured as much. He’d heard the water turn on in the bathroom down the hall a minute ago. Owen nodded, offering a warm smile as Dani stopped on the other side of the counter, biting her lip.

“Umm, could I… ” Dani pointed her thumb over her shoulder toward the back counter. “I wanted to... make her something.”

Owen managed not to “aww,” just barely.

“’Course, yeah. May the odds be ever in your _flavor_.”

Dani laughed. It sounded more polite than reactive, but Owen was used to that. A laugh was a laugh, as far as he was concerned. It made people feel better, even if they weren’t in stitches. Plus, he turned to find Hannah rolling her eyes, a faint smile on her lips.

Dani got to work, concocting something in the blender that Owen quickly recognized as a hangover cure. It was then confirmed by Jamie walking in about 15 minutes later, very unsubtly, in sunglasses. “Shut up” was her greeting to him before he’d even opened his mouth.

Not that he could really judge. The only reason he wasn’t in her condition was because he couldn’t hold his liquor as well. He’d thrown up shortly before Hannah had made it back with dinner; and once he’d managed, at her insistence, to eat half his meal, drink a few glasses of water and take a couple aspirin, she’d sent him straight to bed.

“Here.”

Dani started to stand up from the stool to his left. There were only three in total. But Jamie waved her off as she raised her shades into her curls, blinking. She’d put on a bit of make-up, another sure sign of her current state.

“Standin’ll probably do me good. Thanks, though.”

Jamie smiled, and Dani sat back down after a moment, reluctantly, Owen could tell. 

“Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, did you?” 

Jamie grumbled, but then shot Dani another smile as Dani pushed her hangover smoothie toward her. 

“Dani take your usual side?”

He’d timed it perfectly. Jamie choked, spitting at least her gulp back into the cup as she sputtered. 

Smiling shamelessly, he didn’t look away as she glared at him, blushing furiously. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Dani blushing, too, as she stared down at the counter. And he felt Hannah whack his upper arm with the back of her hand.

“Right, well, we should be going.” He stood up. “Jay, you can finish that in the car. Dani, lovely seeing you again.”

Still blushing, Dani turned to him, smiling bashfully as she nodded and stood up herself.

Dani followed them out. Hannah took his hand, and they walked over to his rental car parked in the driveway. Hannah got behind the wheel, and they kept the windows closed, but couldn’t resist watching. Jamie, sunglasses pulled back back down, was scratching the back of her neck, clearing trying to push back, good-naturedly, against whatever Dani was saying. 

But then, smiling shyly, she lowered her hand as her shoulders slumped. Evidently, she’d relented, which was quite something. Jamie was _by far_ the most stubborn person he knew. 

Then, Dani, smiling as well, cupped Jamie’s cheek, leaned forward and kissed her other cheek. 

Jamie dropped her smoothie onto the lawn; and even from a distance, Owen could see her blushing furiously as Dani pulled back, lowering her hand. Dani was clearly trying not to laugh as Jamie sheepishly bent down to retrieve the smoothie, which she’d fortunately poured into a thermos.

Dani then took her free hand, squeezing it presumably before walking around Jamie toward her car, which was parked in front of the house. Jamie turned around, watching for her a moment, then made her way to them, still blushing and smiling, despite herself. “Shut up” was her greeting when she slid into the backseat.

******

“Can I come in?”

“Oh, uh… sure.”

Hannah opened the door to Jamie’s bedroom to find her sitting on the edge of her bed, putting on small gold hoop earrings.

“That’s quite a dress, love.”

The fact that Jamie was wearing a dress at all was surprising, let alone a sleeveless, somewhat slim cut one. Jamie shrugged as she switched ears, not meeting her gaze.

“S’the only thing I had in black.”

Hannah knew that was utter rubbish. Between what Jamie had here and what she’d packed, at least half her wardrobe was black by Hannah’s estimation. But she decided to indulge her.

But then Jamie stood and walked toward her closet, turning her back to her as she checked herself in the mirror hanging off the left door. Hannah smirked, seeing an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

“So you’ve worn it before?”

There was pause —verbally, and literally — Jamie having put her hands in hair, which she was wearing up in a bun. 

“Yeah.”

“But you didn’t take the price tag off?”

Jamie straight-up froze now. The tag had clearly been hanging on the inside back of the dress before but must have flipped over the top when Jamie had put the dress on and evidently forgotten about it.

“I’ll get it. Back in a moment.”

Hannah grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen and returned to find Jamie facing her, blushing. She cleared her throat.

“Thanks.”

Hannah smiled.

“My pleasure. Turn around for me.”

Jamie did as she was told, and Hannah pulled the plastic fastener, right beside the top of the zipper, through the fabric with her thumb and index finger. Then, gripping the price tag and other end of the fastener with her middle fingers, Hannah cut the fastener and retrieved both sides of it, crumpling the price tag in her hand as she lowered the scissors in her other.

“Thanks,” Jamie mumbled again.

“You look lovely, dear.”

With Jamie barefoot, she was more than a few inches taller than her in her heels, and could see her blush in the mirror, smiling shyly.

"I can scrub up when I need to."

“And you’ve chosen quite the day to quit.”

“What?” She nodded to Jamie’s arm in the mirror. “Oh.”

Hannah had noticed the nicotine patch almost as soon she’d walked in. 

“Yeah, well, don’t want you lot to be eulogizin’ me next, do I?”

Jamie chuckled awkwardly.

“Do you have something to cover it up? A cardigan, perhaps?”

She saw Jamie’s eyes widened even as she looked down slightly.

“Oh, uh, no… nothin’ fancy enough, at least.”

She’d figured as much. 

“I’ll grab something out of my suitcase.”

“Hannah - ”

“ _Jamie_.”

Hannah had always been careful not to overstep, even as she’d gotten to know Jamie better over the past few years. But given the fact that she was older and more mature than both Jamie and Owen — the two of them sharing a collective brain cell when they were around each — there came times when a firm hand was called for.

Jamie went to object again but then sighed. 

“Okay.”

Hannah smiled, then turned and started walking away. But she turned back when she got to the door.

“By the way, did Dani say what time she was coming?”

Jamie didn’t respond for a moment, still facing away, then scratched the back of her neck.

“Uh, no... just that she’d meet us there.”

******

But Dani hadn’t.

She’d shown up at the house... hours after the viewing, the service, the burial, the luncheon. 

Their conversation after Jamie had answered the door had been playing on a loop in Jamie’s head for days. And much to her chagrin, it was still, even now as she stared out the window on her way to the Des Moines International Airport.

_“Jamie, I’m so sorry.”_

_“S’fine. Like I said, ya didn’t have to go in the first place.”_

_“No, I know, but I... I just... I want to explain.”_

_“S’been a long day, Dani.”_

_“Yeah. No, of course. I - I’m sorry... Another time?”_

_“Yeah... Maybe, yeah.”_

_“Okay... you, umm, you know how to reach me.”_

_“Yeah.”_

But she hadn’t called, hadn’t texted. And, sure, it was a dick move. But she was a dick, as she’d said. And Dani... Dani deserved better than that.

“So you and Dani seem close.”

By nature of being in a suffocatingly small town, her Uber driver was Rebecca, who Jamie had just seen at the reunion, still with Peter. Rebecca had greeted her today with a “You’re alive!” It had caught Jamie off-guard, and then she’d remembered, her face flushing. All the more reason to get the hell out of Iowa.

“Oh, yeah. We’re... friends.”

Jamie was sitting in the passenger seat, having felt it would be more awkward to sit in the back as if she didn’t know Rebecca. And Rebecca had readily agreed. But she didn’t turn to Rebecca now as she answered her because she was lying. She and Dani were both more than that... and maybe now, less than that.

“Shame about Eddie.”

Jamie raised an eyebrow. She didn’t know for sure that Dani had been the one to break things off with him. Dani hadn’t actually mentioned him at all since they’d reconnected, so Jamie hadn’t asked. But based on Dani’s social media, she’d already surmised years ago that they’d broken up sometime in college.

“Ran into Mrs. O’Mara the other day. She’s not doing very well.“

"Because of the break-up?”

It seemed rather absurd, but…

“The what?” 

Rebecca glanced over as she stopped at a light, and Jamie turned to find her giving her a quizzical look. Then, Rebecca’s eyebrows shot up as her mouth went in an “o.”

“ _Oh_... Oh, do you not know?”

Jamie was getting really sick of being out of the loop on so many things, though she supposed it was her own fault in many respects.

“Eddie, he - he died... a few months ago.”

******

_“Eddie?”_

_“Danielle!”_

_The fact that she’d answered was a good sign. She’d ignored his calls, texts, voicemails, Facebook messages, Insta DMs, emails for months after they’d broken up back in freshman year, citing long-distance — him being in Wisconsin and her being in North Carolina — as being too much of a strain._

_Eventually, he’d almost booked a flight before realizing he could see her again when they were both home for the summer. But then she hadn’t come home that summer. Or the next one. And he’d reluctantly given up._

_But, as hard as he’d tried, he’d never been able to move on. She was the only girl for him, always had been. So when he’d found out from his mother that Danielle was finally back home and living there, no less, he’d driven down from Wisconsin in a heartbeat, despite his mother’s gentle discouragement._

_He knew she was only trying to protect him, but he had to give it one last shot, even if it meant getting hurt again. He at least knew that she was single, unless she was going out of her way to keep a relationship out of her social media._

_He heard her sigh over the line._

_“Eddie, we’ve been over this.”_

_“No, I know. But I’m here!”_

_There was silence for a moment._

_“What?”_

_He smiled. He hadn’t called from the road, preferring to surprise her._

_“I’m walking to your building as we speak.”_

_“My - my what? … How - how do - how do you know where I live?”_

_“Oh, I asked your mom.”_

_He heard a slight groan on the other end. He’d known it was a bit risky. Danielle and her mother had never been on the best of terms — in fact, it was a big part of the reason she and him had become so close. But_ his _mother hadn’t known her address, so he’d really had no one else to turn to._

_“Eddie, I - ”_

_“Danielle, I know it’s been awhile, but… ” He sighed before firming his resolve as he pushed up his glasses. “Well, you said it was the distance, right? But I’m here now. I only live a state away… And I’ll - I’ll move back if that’s what it takes.”_

_“Eddie, that’s not - ”_

_“We can talk it over when I get there. I’m - ”_

******

There was an urgent knock at the front door, followed by the ring of the doorbell not even ten seconds later. Had Jamie forgotten something? Even if she had, she had a key.

There was another knock, even more incessant. Owen groaned. Even with his eyes closed, he could tell there was no sunlight peeking through the blinds in his bedroom, so it had to be quite early.

Another knock. 

“I can get it.”

He felt Hannah shift beneath his arm.

“No, no, that’s all right. Wouldn’t want to _dis-door-b_ you.”

Now it was Hannah’s turn to groan. Chuckling, he bent to kiss her temple, then sat up, rubbing his face.

By the time he made it to the door, there’d been another doorbell ring, and he opened it to find the guilty party with her hand raised as if about to knock again.

“Dani?”

He rubbed his eyes as Dani ran the hand through her hair, biting her lip, as her eyes widened.

“Oh… hey, Owen, umm… ” 

She blanched, seemingly only just registering his appearance. Owen was clothed, obviously, but only in a T-shirt and boxers. And he imagined his hair was fairly tousled. 

“Oh, god, I’m sorry. I - this was dumb. I should - ”

“Dani.” She turned back sheepishly, biting her lip again. “It’s okay. What’s up?”

He managed to keep his voice calm. He was pretty easygoing, anyway; and at the moment, he was rather concerned about the state Dani was in. She exhaled.

“Is, umm… is Jamie here?”

 _Oh_. He should've known. 

Jamie had closed the door behind her the other night before she and Dani had talked, but the gist of what had happened had been fairly obvious, especially given how withdrawn Jamie had been in the days since. 

Owen cleared his throat.

“She’s not.”

“Oh.”

He felt a pang of guilt as Dani’s face fell. He also wasn’t sure it was his place to elaborate, and it’s not like it would make her feel better.

“Do you know when she’ll, umm, be back?”

Owen sighed. He didn’t want to lie to her.

“She’s going home, Dani.”

Dani looked at him quizzically, then her eyebrows rose, presumably in recognition of what ‘home’ he meant. Then, she gaped at him. 

“Now?!”

Owen nodded glumly — he’d tried to convince Jamie to stay a few more days, but she’d insisted. But then he jolted.

“What time is it?”

Dani looked down at her watch frantically, then back up at him.

“5:30.”

Owen nodded, feeling the corners of mouth turning up.

“Okay, she’s still on her way to the airport then. If you call, she might - ” He didn’t want to get Dani’s hopes up. “Just call, okay? Or leave a message.”

He could see the hopefulness in Dani’s eyes, but she was biting her lip again. And he realized that they probably hadn’t spoken since that day. 

“Give it go, Dani. What do you have to lose?”

******

“So we’re - we’re good?”

They were at the high school, sitting on the curb of the parking lot by the front entrance, almost exactly where she’d almost killed Jamie. 

Jamie had apparently asked Rebecca to turn around and drop her off there, hoping to run into Dani on her way in — though in typical Jamie fashion, she hadn’t really thought through that school didn’t start for a couple more hours. But, of course, Dani had called her, and now they were finally talking for real.

“Yeah, of course. I’m so sorry, Dani. I would never’ve asked ya to go if I’d known.”

Dani was still working through the trauma — the scene alone had given her nightmares for weeks, not to mention the funeral; even now, she still woke up in a cold sweat on occasion. In fact, the best sleep she’d had since, maybe the best sleep she’d had _ever_ , was the night she’d held Jamie. 

She was still working through her guilt, too, even though she knew deep down that it wasn’t her fault. Jamie, being _Jamie_ , had said the same just a few minutes ago, rubbing her back she’d teared up. 

_“I’ll sort ’im out for ya, if I have to.”_

But the morning of the funeral, she’d panicked, not wanting to make a scene, as she had inadvertently done at Eddie’s, and make things more difficult for Jamie and Owen on her account. And there’d been something else eating away at her, too. If she _had_ tried to push through and fallen short, she hadn’t known what she would tell Jamie. 

_I’m a bit hung up on my ex-boyfriend, but not in_ that _way?_

Plus, as reluctant as she was to own it, part of her motivation to finally pull the trigger with Jamie had been Eddie’s death.

And yet, now she felt like an idiot because Jamie was a sweetheart. She’d known that, and Jamie had just proven it _again_. And she was the one who’d invited herself in the first place and then hurt Jamie by not showing, not that she hadn’t tried to rectify it.

“You didn’t ask, Jamie.”

“Well, yeah, but - ”

“And it’s really - it wasn’t - I wasn’t... ”

 _Choosing him over you_? She looked away from Jamie, out into the parking lot.

“Dani, you don’t have to - to justify anythin’. I know you and him were... close... You’re allowed to be upset. To _still_ be upset.”

“Yeah, but - ”

She felt Jamie take her hand and squeeze it. She turned back to find Jamie smiling softly.

“Poppins, we’re good. I promise.”

She exhaled, smiling softly herself.  
  
“Okay.” 

She looked down at the watch on her other wrist. 6:30. Ridiculously early still, but now that she was here…

“I, umm, I may as well head in.”

She turned back to Jamie, her smile a tad apologetic now. But Jamie didn’t look offended as she cleared her throat and released her hand.

“Right. And I better call another Uber.”

“Take my car.”

Legs stretched out in front of her on account of her wearing a skirt, Dani twisted her upper body to unzip her backpack, which she’d set down on her other side. There was no need for Jamie to waste her money. She could always walk home... Or ask Jamie to pick her up.

“To the airport?”

Dani’s hand froze on the zipper.

“What?”

“Well, I left early on purpose. Cuttin’ it a bit close now, but... ”

Dani turned back slowly but felt suddenly lightheaded nonetheless.

“You - You’re still... leaving?”

Jamie blushed slightly and scratched the back of her neck.

“Oh, uh... Yeah, I was only stayin’ till today.”

Dani was tired. She hadn’t been sleeping well _again_ since the funeral. But it felt like her brain had stopped functioning. Or maybe she just didn’t want to accept what it had processed.

“So what... you - you were just gonna... ghost me?”

Jamie, a bit wide-eyed, said nothing for a moment, then swallowed.

“Well, I... I didn’t know what was goin’ on with ya.”

“Because you wouldn’t let me explain!”

Dani felt a twinge of regret as Jamie jumped slightly, then faced forward, hugging her knees to her chest.

“I - I’m sorry about that... But I wasn’t - I’m not like... runnin’ away. I _live_ there, Dani... I have a job to get back to. Plants that better still be alive or ma neighbor’s gonna... ” 

Jamie coughed out a laugh that sounded more bitter than not, then turned back to her, sighing. 

“I don’t want to leave like this, but I paid for the flight a month ago, and I - ” Jamie looked down slightly, clearing her throat, her cheeks pink again. “I don’t really have money to burn.”

“I’ll cover it.”

The words were out before Dani even fully considered what she was saying. She was a public school teacher in a small Midwest town. She couldn’t afford to burn money, either. Jamie looked up, seeming to have come to the same conclusion. 

But before Jamie could object, Dani doubled down. She wasn’t going to let everything fall apart after years of waiting.

“Jamie, please, it’s my fault we - ”

“No, s’not.” Dani pulled out her ‘teacher’ look; but to her surprise, Jamie smiled. “We’re both shite at communicatin’.”

For a moment, Dani just stared at her, then burst out laughing. She reveled in the feeling, realizing she hadn’t laughed in days, not like this anyway. Jamie was the only person who’d ever made her laugh like this. 

She even heard Jamie chuckling beside her as she threw her head back. But she tried to reign it in when she heard Jamie clear her throat.

“So, in the interest of bein’ honest, I… ” Dani turned back to her, ‘sobering’ up immediately. Jamie was scratching her neck again. “I can’t just stay... indefinitely.”

“No, I - ”

“Please, let me - ”

“Sorry.”

She saw the corners of Jamie’s mouth twitch, but then Jamie sighed.

“I left for a reason, Dani. And I - I don’t regret it.”

Dani was starting to feel like she was on a precipice, tingling like she was about to fall and wouldn’t be able to stop it.

“What are you saying?”

Her mouth was dry.

“Just - I dunno. I don’t - I don’t wanna… ”

Jamie looked away again, squinting.

“Get stuck here?” 

Jamie didn’t reply. 

“Like me.”

Jamie turned back to her, blanching. 

“That’s not what I said.” 

But Dani could see in her eyes that she’d thought it, guiltily maybe. But she had. Dani found herself on her feet, pacing, running her hands through her hair.

“Why did you even tell me?”

Dani felt like some crazed woman in a bad movie, but she couldn’t help it.

“Tell ya what?”

Jamie’s tone was hesitant, like she knew exactly what Dani meant.

“That you - how you - ” Dani stopped and looked down at Jamie, wrenching her hands out of her hair. “How you felt if you were just gonna leave?!”

Jamie rose to her feet in a single movement. Dani was in heels again today, so Jamie was a few inches shorter than her, but fierce, nonetheless. Dani hadn’t seen fire in her eyes like this since that day right here after she’d tried to protect her from Peter.

“ _You_ asked! What was I s’pose to do, Dani?! Lie?!”

For a few moments, they both just stood there, glaring, breathing heavily. Then, Dani crumbled, throwing her face in her hands as she sat back down. She heaved back a sob.

“Fuck, Dani, I - ” Dani felt a warm hand on her back. “I’m really sorry.”

Dani sniffled, rubbing her face, as Jamie rubbed her back.

“It’s okay.”

“S’not okay. I - ” She heard Jamie clear her throat. “I should - I should never’a talked to ya like that.”

“But you’re right.” 

She looked up, tears still stinging her eyes, and turned to Jamie, who was eyeing her nervously as she clenched her jaw. Dani had seen that before, too — that same afternoon after the fire had left Jamie’s eyes. It meant Jamie was trying not to cry. 

Dani huffed, flinging her arms helplessly.

“I mean, what did I expect? That you’d just... drop everything? … And after, what, a week? Week and a half?” Dani let out a strangled laugh and looked away. “We never even went on a date.”

She felt Jamie’s hand freeze on her back. It _was_ Jamie’s fault, after all. _No_ . No, that was completely unfair. And, in all honesty, her one night with Jamie had meant more to her than she could say — even if, or maybe especially _because_ , it hadn’t been a ‘proper’ date.

This was all _her_ fault. She’d been thinking about the confession for years, orchestrated it months ahead of time, but she hadn’t... 

“Look, Dani, we can… we don’t have to - ” 

Dani turned back to her, sniffling again.

“Text me when you land?”

Jamie looked taken aback for a moment at being cut off.

“Uh, yeah.” She nodded solemnly, and Dani felt her take her hand off her back. “Yeah, of course.”

“Thanks.”

“Dani - ”

Dani stood up again, grabbing her backpack. 

“It’s okay, Jay, really.” She felt her face burn as she slipped into the backpack. She shook her head. “Sorry, that’s - that’s Owen’s - ”

“Doesn’t have to be.” She turned to find Jamie standing beside her, just inches from her. “To only be.”

Dani almost gave in, almost closed the gap. But then she steeled herself.

“It was, umm, really nice seeing you again.”

Her heart clenched as she noticed tears glistening in Jamie’s eyes. Jamie swallowed.

“Yeah. You, too.”

Jamie’s voice still came out hoarse. And Dani couldn’t stop herself from pulling Jamie into a hug. 

Bending down slightly, she threw her arms around Jamie’s back, which instantly stiffened, and rested her chin on her shoulder, closing her eyes and breathing her in as Jamie’s curls tickled her cheek. 

She felt Jamie relax into the hug slightly, then gingerly, and somewhat awkwardly given the backpack, wrap an arm around her shoulders. But then Dani pulled back abruptly, opening her eyes.

“Oh!” She saw Jamie’s eyebrows rise. “Your - your hoodie! I… ”

Jamie had given it to her initially to cover up the bruises she’d _accidentally_ — Dani had reminded her again when she’d offered — given her. And then she hadn’t had a chance to give it back — not that she wanted to, really. It smelled like Jamie.

“Keep it.”

“ _What_?”

Jamie was giving her a small and rather sad smile — but a smile, nonetheless.

“Keep it.”

“ _Jamie_ \- ”

Dani’s voice was starting to betray her.

“Looks better on ya, anyway.”

Jamie’s voice came out hoarse again.

Dani relented with a nod, not trusting herself to do more than that; then, she walked away. Tears streaming down her face, she didn’t look back.

And Jamie didn’t text. 

Granted, Dani knew, as she walked down the hallway toward the front entrance in the late afternoon, that Jamie probably hadn’t landed yet. It wasn’t exactly a quick hop from Des Moines to London.

But Dani couldn’t banish down the nagging thought that Jamie _wouldn’t_ text. She’d get back to her apartment, check on her plants, possibly murder her neighbor, depending on the state she found them in. 

Dani almost laughed out loud... to herself... by herself. Like a maniac. 

She shook her head as she pushed open the door. Jamie would go back to her life. And that was fine. That was fair. It was her life to...

Dani froze mid-step. She heard the door close behind her. 

Jamie was standing on the edge of the parking lot with her back to her, hands shoved in her pockets. She wasn’t smoking, but otherwise...

Dani couldn’t have stopped the stupid grin spreading across her face if she’d wanted to, which she didn’t. But she tried to keep her voice steady.

“Hey.”

Jamie turned around slowly with a smile, lopsided as ever. And Dani had another moment of déjà vu: Jack turning to Rose as she walked down that grand staircase on the Titanic.

It was a bit of a morbid comparison to make — wouldn’t have been, of course, if Rose had made more of an effort to make room on the freakin’ door, but whatever. Dani had seen the movie an embarrassing number of times as a teenager — and, okay, fine — she had the DVD in her current apartment, too.

The point was the scene was ingrained in her mind. She’d always dreamed of finding someone who could look at her like that — couldn’t _help_ looking at her like that.

And, as it turned out, it was an apt comparison for another reason.

“So... ’bout that date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, Damie date! How we feelin??
> 
> I'm on Tumblr @comic-book-jawns


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all! So things are really gettin' goin' now — new summary! This is the longest chapter yet, and there will a be a lot of fluff, especially upfront! But fair warning, things are gonna twisty again — note the new tags, though emo hurt/comfort is a bit of a belated addition. 
> 
> We'll be delving into Jamie's childhood, but there aren't any references beyond that things "could've been worse." 
> 
> As always, thanks so much for reading!

_“Hey!”_

_Dani’s voice was especially bright today, and Jamie couldn’t help grinning before she even looked up. She was sitting on the bench by the front entrance, her legs stretched out in front of her and bent slightly to hold up her latest book,_ Dune _— yes, it was nerdy._ Whatever _._

_She was holding her sandwich in her right hand, though she’d only taken one bite out of it since she’d sat down. Her brown paper bag was tucked between the back of the bench and her left thigh. Now that it was mid-spring, she’d taken to avoiding the cafeteria all together and eating her lunch outside._

_Dani joined her sometimes, if she didn’t have to work through lunch — she was taking a million AP’s on top of all her other commitments. But today, evidently, was one of her lighter days._

_“Hey.”_

_Jamie looked up, blinking, then squinting. The sun was right behind Dani, and her head was only blocking part of it. But after a moment, she realized where Dani, clutching her lunchbox, was looking._

_“Oh, sorry.”_

_Reluctant as she was to admit it, she was fairly small, and her legs were not long. But, at the moment, she was slouching pretty hard, so she was taking up more than two-thirds of the bench._

_But before she could sit up or even pull her legs in, Dani was lifting them. In a fluid motion, Dani twirled around, sat down and lowered her legs onto her lap. Then, setting her lunchbox on her other side, she inched even closer, angling herself toward her as she placed her right arm on the top of the bench and her left arm on Jamie’s shins — her_ bare _shins._

 _Jamie had thrown on jean shorts that morning and was starting to regret it as Dani began stroking her shins — seemingly unconsciously — making her heart palpitate. Dani_ (thank, god) _was wearing jeans — the high-waisted ones she wore at least once a week by Jamie’s count — so they were not making_ triple _skin-to-skin contact._

_Still, she was so distracted, buzzing from just having Dani’s fingers on her skin, that she almost missed what Dani said._

_“I’ve decided where I’m going.”_

_“What?” She realized Dani was smiling rather proudly. “Oh.”_

_It was all anyone could talk about these days, and she was frankly getting pretty tired of it — though for Dani, of course, she was all ears. She smiled, nodding encouragingly._

_“Elon!” Dani’s smile widened even more, and she could see the elation in her eyes. “I’m going to Elon.”_

_Jamie couldn’t help smiling stupidly wide herself. She had no idea where or even what — well, she knew_ what _it must be, generally speaking._

_But she was grinning because she’d rarely seen Dani this excited, especially when she’d catch glimpses of her in the halls, looking anywhere from annoyed to trying to pretend she was happy instead of annoyed to stressed to full-on exhausted._

_“Congrats, Dani! That’s amazin’!” And she meant it. “I’m really happy for you.”_

_She also meant that and couldn’t help noticing Dani’s cheeks turning to pink, though she knew Dani wasn’t the best at taking compliments. As if she’d needed further proof of that, Dani’s smile turned to bashful, and she looked down, back at Jamie’s shins._

_“Thanks, I - it’s a - it has a good education program, so I’m excited about that.”_

_“Yeah. Yeah, of course, as you should be.”_

_She saw Dani’s mouth twitch, but Dani was still looking down. She sat up slightly, choking back a laugh as Dani went wide-eyed watching her legs slide across her lap._

_She decided to indulge whatever_ fascination _Dani had with them, though — it now being her special day — and stopped as her heels tapped the outer thigh of Dani’s left leg. She couldn’t help smiling shyly as Dani visibly relaxed, even inched a bit closer_ again _, and placed her arm back down, now rubbing circles against her shins with her thumb._

_Trying to ignore the adrenaline coursing through her veins yet feeling emboldened by it, Jamie placed her left arm on the top of the bench, covering Dani’s hand with hers — that being the reason she’d sat up in the first place._

_As she’d hoped, Dani looked up and perked up._

_“So what about you?”_

_“Hmm?”_

_“Have_ you _decided?”_

Oh _... duh. Dani had asked her about her plans before, but Jamie had always managed to talk around it or change the subject. But she’d known, she’d have to come clean... eventually. She swallowed._

_“Uh, no, I’m not, uh… goin’ to uni.”_

_“Oh.”_

_Dani frowned_

_“Didn’t really even wanna go_ here, _to be honest.”  
_ _  
_ _Dani looked down quickly, but not before Jamie saw her whole face fall. Jamie felt a wave of guilt wash over her as she blanched. She felt Dani’s hands still on her shins as she felt her own body tense up._

 _“Not that there! That there haven’t been some..._ perks _.”_

_She tried her best to smile, and fortunately, was able to actually do so when Dani looked back up, smiling rather sheepishly herself, her cheeks a tad pink again. And then she resumed rubbing her shins._

_She knew Dani hadn’t really been judging her before, just been surprised. And she hadn’t been trying to retaliate. It had just been a slip of the tongue — the result of her own nervous energy. Because — well, she_ was _judging herself._

_Most of their classmates were going to university, after all — Owen included, if culinary school counted. She couldn’t help scratching the back of her neck and glancing back down at her book as Dani cleared her throat and asked the inevitable follow-up question._

_“So what are you gonna... do then, umm… next year?”_

_“I dunno... ”_

_It was the truth. She didn’t have a plan, only a vague notion, really._

_“Travel… get a job… get a… ” She looked back up, trying to think of something even mildly impressive-sounding. “Plant.”_

_Dani snorted._

_“A plant?”_

_Jamie felt herself blush, though in Dani’s defense, she had said it rather pathetically._

_“Well, s’not as awkward to accidentally kill a plant as it is to accidentally kill a dog, is it?”_

_Dani laughed, and Jamie’s heart did the thing it always did._

_“So you’re a dog person then?”_

_Jamie squinted, looking away for a moment. She’d actually never really thought about it before, never having had a pet._

_“Dog_ might _be a bit a annoyin’... though a cat might me, too. Remindin’ me ah maself n’all.”_

 _She heard Dani snort_ again _, which was really something. She’d known Dani for several months now, but she was almost certain she’d never heard Dani snort even once before today. And,_ god _, was it cute._

 _“Oh,_ please _!”_

_Jamie turned back, eyebrow raised._

_“What?” Dani smiled shamelessly, only compounding her confusion, and she couldn’t help laughing awkwardly as she repeated herself. “_ What _?”_

_Dani cleared her throat with gusto, then looked back down at Jamie’s legs as she continued to rub them._

_“_ You _, Jamie Taylor… are a puppy.”_

_Jamie felt her face scorch._

_“I_ am _not!”_

 _Dani looked back up, still grinning, though_ curiously _blushing a bit herself._

_“Yes, you are.”_

_Jamie grunted in frustration as she tried to come up with a better comeback, but only blushed more furiously as Dani giggled._

_“Fine! What’re you then?_

_Dani thought for a moment._

_“A narwhal.”_

_“What?!”_

_Dani laughed._

_“Well, who_ wouldn’t _want to be a narwhal? Unicorn of the sea?”_

_Jamie scoffed._

_“Well, if we’re goin’ off what we_ want _to be, then_ I _want to be a cat.”_

_Dani went to object, but then smiled sheepishly, evidently realizing she’d been defeated by her logic. Jamie smirked._

_“Fine… ” Dani turned contemplative again. “I’m a… beluga.”_

_Jamie had already opened her mouth, ready to object again. But then she closed it as she processed. Beluga was perhaps the most accurate description of Dani there was._

_“And you’re a puppy!”_

_Dani was grinning again. Jamie sighed melodramatically, rolling her eyes._

_“Fine.”_

_Dani giggled again. She never had been able to deny Dani, not when she was being this adorable, at least._

_As she turned back to her book and took another bite of her sandwich while Dani dug into her own lunchbox, she was also unable to stop the corner of her mouth from curving upward._

_“By the way... what you’re doing, it’s - it’s really cool.”_

_Jamie felt her heart do a cartwheel. She knew, without even having to look at her, that Dani wasn’t just being polite. She was just being_ Dani _._

_“You should get a Venus flytrap… that way if you do accidentally kill it, you’ll have murdered a murderer, so you’ll feel less guilty.”_

******

“How?”

Jamie couldn’t help smirking.

“How what?”

Dani gave her her ‘teacher’ look, though it wasn’t very intimidating since she hadn’t stopped smiling. Jamie looked down, rubbing the back of her neck.

“I kinda turned around.”

“ _Again_?”

Her tone was borderline incredulous.

“Yeah, think ma Uber rating’s gonna take a hit.”

Jamie started to look up a little surprised — and, admittedly, disappointed — that Dani wasn’t laughing. But the reason why became apparent before her eyes even reached Dani’s. 

Dani’s hands were on her face, then Dani’s lips were on hers. And _Jesus Christ_ , Jamie almost died on the spot —the exact same goddamn spot — for a second time in almost as many weeks as her eyes rolled back in her head. 

She inadvertently let out something between a yelp and a moan in surprise; and, tragically, Dani immediately pulled back and up, though she didn’t remove her hands.

“Oh, god!” Jamie’s eyes fluttered open, and she couldn’t look anywhere other than at Dani’s mouth. “Sorry! I - I should’ve - ”

Jamie didn’t let her finish, having gripped Dani’s blouse and leaned onto her tiptoes — Dani still wearing heels — she locked their lips once more before pulling Dani back down to her level. This time, Dani moaned, and Jamie couldn’t help grinning, breaking the kiss slightly. 

Dani pulled her hands away, and Jamie missed the contact instantly. But she heard something hit the pavement — Dani’s backpack, presumably — and then felt Dani’s hands in her hair as Dani clashed their lips together again, deepening the kiss almost immediately. And Jamie was truly ready to die now. 

Then, a few moments later, before she even realized what was happening, Jamie was being turned around. She stumbled back, Dani gripping her curls even tighter as she nearly tripped over the curb and fell back. 

A moment after that, the back of her knees hit something, and she was pushed down. _The bench_ . And then, _still_ without breaking the kiss, Dani was climbing into her lap — straddling her in a skirt.

Jamie’s brain having melted at this point, the next few moments were a blur — though she did manage to go from gripping the front of Dani’s blouse to the back. Dani soon pulled back but only just far enough to rest their foreheads together.

“Oh, god.”

Dani sounded significantly more relieved, contented, as she said it this time, though it still came out as a gasp. Jamie exhaled herself, breathing heavily.

“Fuck, Dani.”

She heard Dani giggle and felt her heart flutter even more.

“Is that a _good_ ‘fuck’?”

Jamie couldn’t help giggling, too. She sounded delirious, even to herself. 

“What d’ _you_ think?”

They both giggled again, unable to stop for several seconds. Jamie finally opened her eyes as she felt Dani pull back more and then slide off her. A small part of her wanted to protest, but she didn’t want to screw things up by moving too fast, either. 

And, _obviously_ , she never wanted to do anything that Dani wasn’t comfortable with — though she was starting to get the feeling Dani was quite… eager to take things to _a_ next level, at least.

“Well, I wanted to make it count.” 

She turned to find Dani sitting beside her, face flushed, lips swollen. Dani bit the bottom one, but Jamie made a concerted effort to look into her eyes, which were surprisingly uneasy — well, maybe that wasn’t surprising given the lip biting.

“I figured you - you’ve probably, umm... seen more _action_ than me.”

Jamie felt her eyebrows rise, then saw Dani’s do the same.

“Sorry!” She felt Dani take her hand. “I - I didn’t mean it like that. I just - ” Dani looked down at their hands. “I mean _most people_ — most _normal_ people — have been with more than one - not to mention - ”   
  
Jamie squeezed her hand.

“Woah, Dani. Slow down.”

Jamie felt her head spinning again, not in such a good way this time. Dani slowly looked up, biting her lip again.

“Is that - do ya really think I care about that?”

Dani continued to stare at her like a deer in headlights, and then shrugged slightly — like she didn’t know what else she was supposed to do. Jamie sighed, glancing down for a moment.

“Dani, I - ” She looked back up, clearing throat. “I, uh… I like ya, like _really_ ya… _you_ , specifically, just as ya are.”

Blushing, she felt the corner of her mouth curve up as Dani slowly smiled, then beamed, almost in awe, her eyes shining.

“And, _for the record_ … ” Jamie felt her whole face burning now as she cleared her throat again. “There haven’t been… _that_ many others.”

“Jamie, you don’t have to - ”

“I’m serious!”

Dani gaped at her for a moment.

“Really?”

Jamie chuckled.

“Okay, _are_ ya tryna call me a slut now?”

She laughed again as Dani blushed furiously.

“No! I - I just… I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to be with you.”

 _Oh_ . Dani could be so very... _Dani_ sometimes, and Jamie felt her breath hitch. When she didn’t respond after a few moments — eyebrows raised, her mouth hanging open slightly — Dani started smiling again, smirking almost.

Jamie finally managed to close her mouth and swallow as her face burned once more. But she still had no idea what to say. 

So, instead, she slipped her hand out of Dani’s to loop her arm through Dani’s, then gripped Dani’s upper arm with her other hand as she leaned against her, swinging her legs up onto the bench and curling them up beside herself. She then pressed a kiss to Dani’s shoulder before laying her head on it with a sigh. 

Her breath hitched again, though, when she felt Dani kiss the top of her head, then lean her own head against it.

“Thank you, by the way.”

“For what?”

“Comin’ back.”

“Hmm… ” Jamie smirked. “You gonna give me back ma hoodie as a reward?”

Dani laughed.

“Are you _trying_ to hurt me again?” 

She felt Dani tense up almost immediately, clearly fearing that she’d made light of things too soon. But Jamie chuckled, genuinely — she’s the one who’d set up the joke in the first place — and felt Dani relax again.

“S’yours, Poppins.” She felt Dani perk up. “ _If_ … ya can name _one_ Bastille s- ”

“Pompeii!”

Jamie chuckled again. Dani had declared it very eagerly and very proudly.

“Fuck… all right, that’s on me.”

She heard Dani giggle.

“Thank you, Jay.”

In combination with hearing the nickname again, she just barely managed to suppress a sob — _dramatic, much_ ? — when she then felt Dani lift her head up, kiss the top of her head _again_ , then lean her head back down again. 

“Oh, I - I don’t think I actually said that before. Sorry.”

Jamie shrugged against her.

“Speakin’ ah things that haven’t been said before… ” She felt herself blushing yet again, as the corner of her mouth curved up. “For someone worried ’bout experience, you, uh… ya really know how to turn a girl’s head, Dani Clayton.”

******

“This is a good color on you.”

Owen and Jamie were lying side-by-side on top of his bed. She’d come bursting in an hour ago before immediately turning and slamming the door shut. He and Hannah hadn’t been doing... _that_. But they hadn't been sat reading, either. 

Hannah, without him or Jamie needing to say, had clearly sensed she needed to speak with him and him alone. So she’d opened the door and ushered her back in, despite Jamie’s protests, then made some excuse about needing to run to the store.

Jamie had then poured her heart out in a way Owen had never seen in the nearly ten years they’d known each other. It was like she couldn’t stop herself. Granted, he was fairly certain she wasn’t telling him everything, cutting herself off with blushes here and there as she paced around the room, fiddling with her hands. 

But it was enough, more than enough, more than he’d ever expected of her, really. He’d never heard her talk for so long about... _anything_ , let alone her love life. He’d gathered that she and Dani were together now, in some sense, at least. He hadn’t pressed for those details, not wanting to make her shut down or scare her. 

When she’d stopped talking, unable to stop smiling shyly pretty much throughout, she’d flung herself down on the bed, first on her stomach; and he, having been sat on the edge of the bed, had followed suit, sliding down to his pillow on his back. 

“What is?”

Jamie said it almost distractedly, like her mind was elsewhere. He couldn’t help smiling as she shrugged, though it was an especially awkward movement with his arms resting behind his head.

“Happiness.”

“You make me happy.”

Owen felt his heart melt.

“No, I know. But not like this… I mean, it would be pretty weird if I did, even if you weren’t a lesbian.”

He burst out laughing and heard Jamie do the same even as he felt her whack his stomach, hard enough to make his head, arms and legs lift off the bed slightly, reflexively. Once they’d both calmed down, they fell into silence again. And then he heard Jamie sigh.

“D’ya think ’m gettin’ ahead ah maself?”

“Hmm?”

He knew it had been a mostly rhetorical question, but that Jamie needed prompting.

“Like, I dunno - it’s _Dani_.”

“Yeah?”

He could see where this was going, but he wanted Jamie to get there herself.

“I just… I want to make her happy.”

“You will, Jay. You _do_ … Always have, I think.” 

They fell into silence again, but then he felt himself frowning slightly.

“But you need to make yourself happy, too.”

“ _She_ makes me happy.”

“I know, I know. Just… “ He sighed. He didn’t want to ruin her ‘high’. “Never mind.”

“No, what?”

Owen sighed again.

“Just don’t lose _yourself_ , okay?”

******

_“Oh! … You look… ”_

_She literally could not bring herself to say anything more as she took Jamie in. Jamie was always…_ roguishly gorgeous _?_

_But, at the moment, she — there were simply no words. Dani had never seen her in a dress – let alone in a prom dress; let alone in a fairly slim cut, black prom dress; let alone in a fairly slim cut, black prom dress while wearing make-up, heels and earrings with her hair done up in a beautiful bun, a few loose curls framing her face._

_“Eyes up here, Dani.”_

_She could hear the smirk in Jamie’s tone and suddenly felt as if she'd stuck her face in an oven. How long had she been staring? Not that she’d even been looking at…_ that _. When Jamie had called her out, she’d been taking in the intricate white floral design on the skirt of her dress._

_Dani had never seen anything like it — it wasn’t some tacky, sticker-looking thing; it was stunning._

_Dani gulped as she met Jamie’s eyes._

_“Sorry.”_

_Jamie was looking at her strangely._

_“I was just... never mind.”_

_For a moment, they stood there in awkward silence, then Jamie’s signature smirk fell back into place as she crossed her arms._

_“Ya don’t look half bad yaself, Dani.”_

_For some reason, whenever Jamie playfully gave her backhanded compliments, it only flustered her more. She wondered if Jamie knew that. Or if she was just equally as uncomfortable giving compliments as she was receiving them._

_Dani couldn’t help smiling bashfully, her face once again burning._

_“Thanks.”_

******

_Dani was pouting._

_“Oh, c’mon! This is like your_ favorite _song.”_

_“No, s’not!”_

_It was._

_“_ Jamie _.”_

 _Sometimes it almost felt like Dani knew she had her wrapped around her finger. Or maybe that was just Dani being Dani —_ probably, almost certainly.

_The truth was it didn’t really matter. Dani was her Kryptonite, regardless. Eddie apparently had no interest in dancing anymore, even though it was still relatively early in the night, citing tiredness and embarrassment. And Dani wouldn’t dance alone._

_Jamie took her hand with a huff, blushing as she stood up and Dani beamed, then followed her into the center of the gym._

******

_“Dani, what’re ya doin’?”_

_“What?”_

_She’d simply draped her arms around Jamie’s neck._ What had Jamie thought she meant by “dance with me”? _It wasn’t like they were even flush against each other. Yet, Jamie was acting like she’d... kissed her or something. Blushing, she wouldn’t even meet her eyes, let alone touch her._

_“Look, Dani, I - I know ya like… like touchin’ me or whatever.” Jamie cleared her throat and got even redder. “But people might like… get the wrong idea.”_

_“So?”_

Did _she care? Jamie was being overly dramatic, anyway, though._

_Yes, the administration and school board had made it clear that “overtly” same-sex couples were not welcome, which was fucked up. Dani had tried to use her clout as a member of the student government to fight back and garnered some support; but ultimately, it had been a David vs. Goliath without the uplifting ending._

_She and Jamie were already here, though, and there were plenty of other girls dancing with their friends — in groups, but still._

_Jamie finally looked at her with a vulnerability Dani had never seen, almost like Jamie was seeing her in a new light._

_“You - ya don’t… care?”_

_Dani tried to think about it, really think. Had she meant what she’d said? But she couldn’t stop looking into Jamie’s eyes — and then she realized that was her answer._

_“No, I - I want to dance with_ you _.”_

 _Jamie only waited a moment. Dani felt her loosely, gingerly grip her waist, and they began to sway to “_ _Flightless Bird, American Mouth_ _,” eyes still locked. It was…_ intoxicating _. There was no other word for it._

_She’d never felt this way dancing with Eddie. Granted, Eddie was a pretty poor, and sweaty, dancer; but Jamie wasn’t doing anything other than holding her waist, a bit more firmly now, and shuffling her feet. Dani swallowed and looked over Jamie’s shoulder. She spotted Peter and Rebecca, squeezed against each other, practically dry humping._

_So that was_ perfectly acceptable _? But her and Jamie saving more than enough room for the Holy Spirit — almost an obscene amount of room, in her opinion — as they slow danced was_ uncouth _?_

 _She shifted her gaze back to Jamie, letting out a bizarre laugh she’d never heard before in her life. She shook her head as she cleared her throat before fixing Jamie with an easy grin. Jamie gave her a dopey smile in return, like the_ puppy _she was. Dani felt a wave of adrenaline course through her and then found herself…_ winking _at Jamie?_

_“Besides, if anyone asks, we can just say we’re Eddie’s ‘sister dates,’ right?”_

_Dani laughed awkwardly again, then realized Jamie had stopped — was standing still,_ rigidly still. _She furrowed her brow as she realized Jamie was also looking down again._

_“Jamie?”_

_She’d just been joking around. Jamie did that all the time, that was like her thing. Dani swallowed again._

_“Jamie, I - ”_

_“I, uh, ’m not feelin’ well.”_

_Jamie cleared her throat, then Dani felt her drop her hands from her waist. Even more alarmingly, Jamie ducked her head and slipped it under her clasped hands. Still not looking at her, she turned and started to walk away, but Dani surged forward, gripping her upper arm, not harshly — but desperately, nonetheless.  
  
_ _“Wait, Jamie! I - what - what can - I can go to the bathroom with you if that’s, umm... ”_

_Jamie turned around slowly, blushing — though that was unsurprising. Dani was blushing a bit herself at what she’d just offered to do. But Jamie still wouldn’t look directly at her, and she was clenching her jaw._

_“Think I just didn’t eat enough today, ya know? Had to fit in ma dress n’all.”_

_Dani looked her up and down again, furrowing her brow further. If anything, the dress was a bit_ loose _on Jamie. There was no way she would’ve needed to suddenly starve herself._

_“’M gonna head out.”_

_“What?”_

_What was happening? They’d been fine – better than fine — not even thirty seconds ago._

_“Jamie, if I - I’m so sorry if I - I mean, I was just kidding. But I’m - ”_

_“S’not that, Dani. Just need to go. Can ya tell Owen… if ya see ’im.”_

_“But you - didn’t you come here with Owen?”_

_“Walk’ll do me good. Could use the air.”_

_Dani nodded more to herself._

_“Okay. Okay, I’ll come with you.”_

_“Dani, you’re here with_ Eddie _.”_

 _Jamie’s tone was becoming a bit acidic. Maybe because she was_ genuinely _feeling ill?_

 _“Jamie, it’s dark out! And it’s a long walk - ” Actually, she didn’t know where Jamie lived. She swallowed. “Probably. And - and you_ just _said - ”_

_Jamie was shaking her off._

_“I’ll be fine, Dani.”_

_With that, she stormed off — well, not_ stormed _, exactly. But Dani had never seen her walk so quickly, walk away from_ her _so quickly — and in heels in less._

_Dani sighed as the Iron & Wine cult hit faded out, replaced by some banger. _

What had she done _?_

_The worst part was that she had a sinking feeling a part of her knew._

******

Dani had just started drifting off on the couch when she heard the phone ring. Having had trouble sleeping — her mind hadn’t stopped racing since she’d dropped Jamie off at her house — she’d traipsed to the couch and turned on Netflix.

Apparently, rewatching _The Office_ — she’d been watching it more and more since the announcement that it was leaving Netflix — had started to do the trick. But now she almost fell off the couch, wide-awake, as she glanced at the coffee table and caught the name lighting up her phone. 

She then almost dropped it on the floor as she raced to grab it. With trembling hands and what she was sure was a ridiculous grin on her face, she pressed the green button and brought the phone to her ear as she scrambled to pause the TV.

“Hey!”

“Hey.”

She fell back against the couch, sighing. 

“Alright there, Poppins?"

She could visualize the smirk and it only made her blush harder. She cleared her throat.

“Are _you_? It’s quite late, you know.”

“Still on London time, I guess.”

Dani rolled her eyes. 

“Well, some people might call this a booty call.”

“D’ya want it to be?”

Jamie had deepened and lowered her voice, and Dani literally felt herself shudder. _Good lord_. She cleared her throat and then felt an unusual calmness come over.

“Do you want to come over?”

“What?”

She felt the corners of her mouth twitch. _Oh, how the turntables_...

“I don’t think… ” She shook her head. “I _know_ I’m not, umm, ready for _that_ … yet. But if - if you just wanted to like hang out.”

“You’re serious?”

Dani felt herself smile for real now. Jamie didn’t sound suave in the least anymore. 

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Dani could tell she’d said it more to herself as confirmation of her confirming she was serious.

“Is that a ‘yes’?”

“Yeah! Yes, I, uh… I can head over now.”

Dani felt her heart melt as Jamie went into puppy-mode.

“You don’t have a car.”

“I know the area.”

“It’s late.”

“I can call an Uber.”

Dani couldn’t stop herself from giggling. 

“It’s late!”

She heard Jamie groan.

“Well, I - ”

“Jay, _I’ll_ pick you up.”

“Oh… you sure?”

“It was _my_ idea.”

“Yeah… ”

Dani’s heart was practically liquid now. 

“I’ll be there soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

  
  


******

“Can I ask you something strange?”

“Always a good first date question.”

Jamie was sitting sideways against Dani, her legs bent over Dani’s lap and resting against her stomach and her head resting against Dani’s shoulder, Dani’s arm wrapped around _her_ shoulders.

She’d been sitting outside on the porch when she’d called Dani, so she’d run inside to freshen up — as quietly as possibly since Owen and Hannah had turned in hours ago. And literally as she’d stepped back out the front door, Dani had pulled up. 

Jamie had started making her way over. Dani, wearing her new favorite hoodie, hadn’t leaned over and pushed open the door for her, hadn’t gotten out and walked around to open the door for her. She’d literally jumped out, sprinted across the lawn, leaned down and thrown her arms around her thighs after Jamie had stepped off the porch, lifted her up and tried to spin her around.

She’d gotten about three-quarters of the way when they’d tumbled onto the grass, and she’d burst out laughing. Jamie would’ve too if her brain hadn’t short-circuited. 

“Missed me already, did ya?”

Still holding her, Dani had suddenly turned rather somber.

“I’ve missed you for a long time.”

Now they were Netflix and chilling, except literally. They had made out for a bit on Dani’s couch when they’d first arrived, though it was slower, softer than it had been that afternoon. It was nice — incredible, actually. Jamie had never gotten to this stage with someone before. 

She was used to hot and heavy. Hot and heavy was safe. 

Dani had then given her a brief tour of her apartment — blushing, Jamie suspected, because it was surprisingly sparse for her having lived there nearly a year. Jamie had smiled extra hard, which Dani seemed to appreciate. 

Not that it had been entirely or even mostly forced. The apartment was still very _Dani_ — very cozy, just understated, like she’d never fully moved in.

Dani had told to put on whatever she wanted, so she’d decided to introduce her to _Derry Girls_ , her favorite new show — maybe her favorite show, period. She’d warned Dani about the fairly thick Northern Irish accents and offered to put on subtitles, a bit teasingly but genuinely. 

But Dani had decided to give it a go without them and so far seemed to be following along for the most part, laughing a lot. So, if anything, it was her who was in distress — well, not _distress_. This was the happiest she’d been in a long time, maybe ever.

Which was why it was almost painful. She had a lot to lose now. 

“So this is our first date?”

Jamie leaned up so she could look at Dani and found her smiling sweetly, nervously.

“You tell me.” She couldn’t help smirking a bit. “You did the asking, if I recall correctly.”

Dani blushed adorably, then turned serious, then smiled again, more assured this time.

“Yes.” Her smile widened. “Yes, it is.”

She should’ve tensed, expected herself to. But she didn’t. 

“There is it.”

“What?”

Dani was smiling even wider, though that hardly seemed possible.

“Your _puppy_ smile.”

Jamie felt her cheeks scorch, even moreso as Dani giggled. Yet, she couldn’t stop smiling, either.

“Go on, then.”

“What?”

Dani was still giggling.

“Your question. What d’ya wanna know?”

Dani’s eyebrows rose as her eyes widened. She stopped giggling abruptly, biting her lip. 

Then, she sat up slightly, gently let go over her hand, reached across her to grab the remote off the coffee table and pause the TV, then retook her hand, sat back and looked at her, biting her lip again. Then, she exhaled.

“Why do you and Owen have different accents?”

Jamie quirked an eyebrow.

“Oh, ya noticed that, did ya?”

Dani nodded, smiling shyly, and Jamie coughed out a laugh.

“Sorry ya drew the short straw there.”  
  
Dani furrowed her brow. Before she could explain, already feeling her cheeks heating up, Dani seemed to catch on, eyes widening.

“ _Oh_ … Oh, Jamie, no. I - I _love_ your accent.”

Jamie felt her mouth drop open, then she swallowed.

“Really?”

Nerdy as Owen was, all the girls at school had gone mad for his accent. Hers — not so much. But none of that mattered now as she felt Dani take her hand, a soft smile on her lips.

“Yeah, Jamie, I do.”

Pathetically, Jamie felt her eyes watering just a bit, and she looked away.

“Thanks, Dani.” She cleared her throat. “Uh, you - you, too.”

“It’s not annoying?”

Jamie whipped her head back. She must’ve looked as bewildered as she felt because Dani laughed; and though, that hadn’t exactly been her aim, she was glad it had been the outcome.

“No! Ah course not, Dani!”

Dani giggled, shrugging.

“I don’t know - I just - I guess _I’ve_ never really liked it.”

Jamie chuckled.

“Well, guess this worked out then, didn’t it?” She nodded down to their joined hands. “You can like mine, I’ll like yours.”

Dani grinned.

“Deal.”

Jamie couldn’t help grinning back but then felt it fade. She cleared her throat and looked down at their hands again.

“To answer your question, Owen and I - we didn’t - well, we grew up together. Sort of... ”

She cleared her throat again. 

“Sorry, you - you don’t have to… I wasn’t trying to - ”

She looked up to find Dani looking pained. Jamie squeezed her hand. 

“I know, Dani. S’okay.”

They sat in tense, awkward silence for a few moments.

“I wanna tell ya."

Dani softened. 

“You sure?”

Jamie nodded, swallowing.

******

Jamie was pulling at a thread on her jeans with her free hand. Dani could’ve tried to stop her, but it seemed a harmless enough coping mechanism. She heard Jamie take a deep breath.

“’M from Yorkshire, originally. Northern England. Owen’s from London.”

Jamie glanced at her and she nodded, smiling softly. Jamie faced forward again — sideways from her angle — and cleared her throat.

“Met ’im when I was 14. He’d just turned 15. I’d, uh, left home… run away, I guess.”

Dani felt her heart clench but she tried to keep herself from tensing up.

“Long story but basically, dad wasn’t around much, worked a lot. So mum left him, left us - me ‘n ma brothers. Not that she’d ever been much interested in bein’ there.”

Jamie chuckled darkly, and she thought back to their first night together — Jamie's heart-wrenching nightmare. She squeezed Jamie's hand and saw the corners of her mouth twitch.

“Anyway, Denny, ma older brother, had already distanced himself from the family, too. Louise, ma mum, she had a bit of reputation. I did, too. Didn’t even know what ‘whore’ meant when people started shoutin’ it at me on the street, others kids, even… Denny, even.” 

Dani felt her heart drop to her stomach. Jamie let out a low whistle.

“Figured it out from context pretty quick, though. Wasn’t as naive about what Louise got up to when she brought men home.”

Jamie sniffed, squinting.

“Anyway, it was basically me ‘n Mikey left, ma _little_ brother - _baby_ brother, still in diapers… And I, uh, I tried to take care ah him, best I could, but - ”

Jamie took a shaky breath. Dani took her arm off Jamie’s shoulders and started rubbing her back. Jamie swallowed.

“I was nine, ‘n not that good at takin’ care ah _maself_ to begin with.” 

Jamie coughed out a laugh. Dani almost gaped at her. 

Her home life hadn’t been great, either. She’d taken care of her mother more than her mother had taken care of her. But she hadn’t started babysitting until she was 14 — and babysitting _kids_ , not babies. And only for a handful of hours at time.

She shook herself out her reverie as she saw Jamie’s jaw clench. 

“So, one day, there was an accident.” Her voice was trembling. “Boilin’ water’s a real bitch when ya forget about it.”

Jamie swallowed. Dani bit her lip, feeling her eyes starting to water.

“Social services got involved. Split us up. Dad tried but didn’t really know what to do with any ah let us, let alone all ah us, so… “ 

Jamie sniffed, squinted again.

“Foster care was… not great. Could’a been worse, but… ” Jamie cleared her throat. “Bounced around a lot. Eventually, I decided I was better off on ma own, so I left for London, and that’s where I met Owen.”

Jamie exhaled and glanced at her again. She tried for a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand. The corner of Jamie’s mouth curved up ever so slightly, then she looked away again. 

“But I, uh, I moved there with basically no money or resources… One day, few weeks after I arrived, I was in line at this chip shop. There was a woman in front ah me and her son, who looked about my age. They were talkin’, distracted. So I, uh… ”

Jamie cleared her throat. 

“I - well, I was really hungry, and - not that that was an excuse. I know I shouldn’a - ”

“Jamie.”

Jamie stopped talking but didn’t turn.

“You’re not gonna scare me off.”

At that, Jamie did turn, her eyes wide, searching.

“I’m not letting you go again.”

Jamie’s eyes widened even more, and then her face crumbled. She turned away rapidly and brought her free hand up to her face as Dani heard her start to whimper.

“Jamie?"

“Sorry.”

Jamie’s voice cracked. Without even needing to think about it, Dani wrapped her arm back around Jamie’s shoulders, pulling her against her chest as she let go of Jamie’s hand with her other to cradle the side of Jamie’s head.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

She felt more than heard Jamie start to sob, Jamie evidently trying to hold back.

“Jamie, it’s okay… you’re safe.”

She wasn’t quite sure what made her say it, but it was the right thing to say, apparently. Jamie let loose, and she held her even tighter as she kissed the top of her head, then rested her chin on it. 

After a few minutes, Jamie started to calm down, taking shaky but deeper breaths as she sniffled, then Dani lifted her head slightly as she felt Jamie start to pull back and up. Jamie was wiping her face with the heels of her hands.

“S- ”

“Jamie.” 

She said it gently but firmly. A sheepish smile appeared on Jamie’s face.

“Sorry.”

Dani couldn’t help chuckling, knowing Jamie had repeated herself on purpose, which was then confirmed by a familiar glint in her eye. But then she swallowed.

“You, umm - I mean, you’re safe, like I said. And I’m not going anywhere… ” She paused. Jamie just stared at her for a moment, then her eyes widened in recognition, and she nodded. Dani smiled gently. “But you don’t - you can stop... if you want to. Take a break.”

Jamie stared at her again. Dani knew it was a bit weird of her to be telling Jamie she didn’t have to tell her own life story. But she was the one who’d asked the precipitating question, and she knew Jamie was dredging up the painful memories for her benefit. 

Maybe Jamie was doing it for herself, too, in part. She hoped she was because it definitely seemed like she’d needed to. But she knew it was taxing her, and she didn’t want to push her. 

Jamie swallowed, sniffling.

“Thanks, Dani. But we’re, uh… ” Jamie gave her that puppy smile again, not in full-force; but it was a promising sight, nonetheless. “We’re almost at the good part, actually.”

Dani smiled warmly. 

“Okay… whenever you’re ready.”

Jamie nodded and looked away, sniffling and rubbing her face. Then, she took a deep breath.

“So… as I was sayin’, I was… ” She cleared her throat. “No sense in beatin’ around it, I guess. I was tryna pickpocket Mrs. Sharma... Just needed a few quid. I was gonna put the wallet back in her purse. But before I could… the guy in line behind me caught me… started callin’ out, makin’ a fuss.”

Jamie swallowed.

“So Owen ‘n his mum turned around. Caught me red-handed. I’d frozen, so couldn’t even try to hide it, deny it. Owen’s eyes practically bulged outta his head. Jaw dropped.”

Jamie chuckled, and it actually sounded genuine, light this time, so Dani couldn’t help joining in.

“Mrs. Sharma was a bit more composed, but I could tell she was shocked too. I mean, who wouldn’t be? But then she… ” Jamie’s voice was starting to tremble again. “She _smiled_ … down at me ‘n said, ‘Trying to get our allowance a little early this month, are we?’”

Jamie had tried to make her voice a bit posher and laughed again, though it was more strained this time. Dani smiled and retook her hand, squeezing it. Jamie sniffed.

“I just… I didn't know what to say. And then, she looked over me at the man and said, ‘Sorry for troubling you. She’s with me’.”

Jamie coughed — though Dani could still hear the whimper she was clearly trying to cover — and shook her head.

“Unbelievable, right?”

“Yeah.” Dani moved her other hand back to Jamie’s back and started rubbing it again. “She sounds like an amazing woman.”

“Yeah.” Jamie sniffled again. “Yeah, she was.”

They fell into silence, save for Jamie’s sniffling and halting breathing. And Dani thought that might be it. But then Jamie pressed on.

“Never formally adopted me. Offered to, eventually, but… ” Jamie cleared her throat. “Guess it scared me a bit.”

Dani nodded, though Jamie wasn’t looking at her directly. 

“Got me back in school. They tried to put me in a lower year, which was… fair. But Owen… ” Jamie laughed quite genuinely, though softly. “He wouldn’t hear ah it. Insisted he’d help me catch up, keep up… And he did… ” Jamie chuckled. “Then, the prat made me stay on for sixth form… insisted it was the _least_ I could after all he’d done for me.”

Jamie laughed again. Dani tried to, but she wasn’t as familiar with the U.K. schooling system as she was with the U.S. Jamie seemed to realize as she turned back to her.

“Sorry… sixth form is _optional_. You’re allowed to quit school at 16.”

Dani nodded, smiling appreciatively. Jamie smiled back, then faced forward again.

“The summer we turned 17, Mrs. Sharma’s job got transferred to America. Iowa, of all places. Not that we knew what Iowa was. But the fact we didn’t know was tellin’ enough.”

Dani couldn’t help laughing. She saw the corner of Jamie’s mouth curve up.

“But Owen was excited, while I was... panickin’. Not that I wanted to ask directly. But it also seemed fairly obviously. I mean, she was already a single mum. And now she would be uprootin’ her whole life. Figured I lifted right out.”

Dani couldn’t help the corners of her mouth tugging down, even though she knew how the story ended.

“But finally I couldn’t take it anymore. So I just asked one night at dinner, quite bluntly, abruptly. And they both just stared at me. Like the answer was obvious. So I’m about to excuse maself but then Mrs. Sharma reached over - ”

Jamie demonstrated on her — gripping her upper right arm — and then looked up at her.

“And said, ‘Ah course, you’re comin’? Why would you think you’re not?’”

Jamie started to cry again, and Dani squeezed her hand, continued rubbing her back. But then she furrowed her brow as Jamie threw her head back. _Oh_.

Dani grinned. She could feel it, the tension finally easing away as Jamie laughed. Jamie couldn’t stop laughing for nearly a minute and even slumped against her chest, unprompted this time. Finally, Dani heard her clear her throat, but she didn’t move off her chest.

“Anyway, that’s, uh… you know the rest, so… ”

“I do.”

She felt Jamie sigh against her, contentedly, she could tell. But Dani now felt a knot forming in her own stomach. 

“I’m really sorry.”

“For what?”

“That I wasn’t there.”

At that, she felt Jamie lift her head, then saw her turn to look at her.

“Dani, we’ve been through this.”

“Yeah, but - ”

“But nothin’, Poppins.”

Dani’s breath hitched as Jamie cupped her face.

“I wouldn’a wan’ed ya to put yaself through that when ya weren’t ready… and Mrs. Sharma wouldn’a, either.”

Dani felt her breath hitch again. Jamie was looking at her gently, yet intently. She swallowed, then nodded. Jamie grinned, then tilted her head down and bounced up slightly to kiss her forehead. Dani almost whimpered herself.

“All right, then.”

Jamie pulled back, though she didn’t remove her hand, and they fell into silence again for a few moments, until Jamie’s grin turned to a smirk.

“So what are our sleepin’ arrangements tonight?”

******

“The other… woman is clearly an adult. What’s the issue?”

Miles instantly hated himself for hesitating between words. But it had been a bit of a shock to learn the babysitter he’d had a crush on as a kid... and yes, even now, at 19 — it was _Danielle_ , after all — was gay. 

Not that he was judging her, or ever thought he’d had a shot with her, for that matter. It was just — well, he’d never met a gay person before. _No, Miles, you_ did _. She’s_ always _been gay._ He was still wrapping his head around it.

The video had been tweeted by an anonymous account less than an hour ago. The school had been tagged — pointedly, of course — so it had immediately blown up, been retweeted by several of his former classmates — some of whom he’d previously considered friends. 

“The _issue_ … is that a woman like... _that_ is around students at all. And they were _at_ the school! Who’s to say she won’t move on to a student next? That she hasn’t already?”

Miles couldn’t help scoffing in exasperation. Mrs. Lloyd was the richest person in town and the president of the PTA; and, for some reason, she thought that made her important. 

“By that logic, _no_ adults should be teachers!”

“You’re young. You don’t under- ”

The bell above the front door rang, and Miles felt his heart drop to his stomach. 

He always loved seeing Danielle, and that hadn’t changed, wouldn’t change. They’d lost touch a bit when she left for college, naturally. But since she’d come back, she stopped into the diner from time to time. 

So, this wasn’t surprising, really… aside from the fact that she was apparently willing to go out in public. Not that any of this was her fault, of course, but...

“Well, look who it is, ladies and gentleman… ”

He turned back to Mrs. Lloyd, who was regarding Danielle with unmitigated disgust, and felt heat rising to his cheeks for a new reason now. He turned back to Danielle and noticed the woman beside her. She had the exact same hair as the woman in the video.

“Jamie?”

He’d said it without thinking, more to himself. But a hush had fallen over the room when everyone had turned to them. Cursing himself, he started rushing over to them as the woman looked at him in alarm, confirming that he’d guessed correctly..

Danielle had talked about _a_ Jamie like _a lot_ , when she babysat him and his sister. Flora had declared her “the coolest,” despite never having met her. And Danielle had heartily agreed. She’d always referred to Jamie as a “ _friend_ from school,” though, and it had never occurred to him before now to read between the heteronormative lines.

Plus, Flora had mentioned she’d met _a_ Jamie the other day in the school parking lot. She’d exclaimed excitedly that she was sure it was _the_ Jamie. At the time, he’d blown her off a bit. She was prone to flights of fancy. 

And yet, here he was jumping to the same conclusion without even having met Jamie. Danielle looked as caught off-guard as Jamie when he finally made it to them. He swallowed.

“You - you need to leave.” He glanced quickly at Jamie, then back at Danielle. “Both of you.”

There was no need for them to be harassed any more than they must have already been. And, messed up as it was, he couldn’t just kick the patrons out or tell them to behave. He was only a busboy. Danielle was biting her lip.

“Miles, what’s going on?”

He cocked his head. Danielle was probably the smartest person he’d ever met, a big part of the reason he’d done even decently in middle school. _Oh_ … Oh _, f-_

“Come with me.” She looked even more confused now. He swallowed. “Both of you… _please_.”

******

Dani could feel the blood seeping into her mouth as she bit her lip for the thousandth time in five minutes. She was actually more concerned about Jamie, though. She hadn’t said a word since Miles had told them about the video. Granted, no one had spoken for almost a minute now.

“Umm, Danielle, I - I hate to do this, but I kinda need to… ”

She turned, hands still in her hair, to find him jerking his head toward a door behind him in the alley. The alley was next to the restaurant; he’d ushered them into it before breaking the news, presumably hoping for privacy. And so far, they hadn’t been interrupted. 

But, of course, no public places guaranteed privacy. She’d never forget to remember that now.

“No, of course. I - I’m sorry to have kept you.”

Miles shook his head, waving her off.

“And - and thank you… for telling us... I, umm, I know this must be... awkward… for you.”

He blushed even harder than he had when he’d told them and his eyebrows rose. She, of course, had been continually blushing to the point that she could barely even feel it at this point. 

“You - you… know?”

Know that she used to babysit him? Granted, he wasn’t 10 anymore, but she hadn’t exactly been planning on talking to him about her love life, not like this at least. He cleared his throat, blushing harder still.

“Never mind.”

With that, he shuffled off to the door, looking at the ground. But when he opened the door, he turned back around for a moment.

“I - I don’t have a problem with it, if that’s what you mean.” He was still blushing but looking her in the eye. “Doesn’t change anything.” 

Dani felt a weight lift off her chest she hadn’t realized was there. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t meant that in part. Miles was a teenager, a teenager in a red state. Not that she liked to make assumptions about people, but she would’ve understood if it made him uncomfortable. 

God knows, she’d felt so uncomfortable about it as a teenager she’d blown her shot with Jamie and even hurt her in the process.

“And Flora will be thrilled that it’s Jamie.”

Dani couldn’t help but laugh at that. It was a bit strained but genuine. 

Flora had been almost as obsessed with Jamie as she was. In fact, Flora, now 17, was in one of the English classes she taught; and one of the first things she’d asked her after giving her a big hug at the end of Dani’s first day was if she was still friends with Jamie. 

Not wanting to break the poor girl’s heart, she’d talked vaguely about having kept in touch. It had sort of been true, social media and all — not that she had used to actually talk to her, of course.

Miles offered a shy smile, then stepped into the back of the kitchen. The door swung shut behind him, and there was silence once more.   
  
“Say it was me.”

“What?”

She whipped around. Jamie had hiked herself up onto a dumpster after Miles had told them and hadn’t moved since, aside from swinging her dangling feet and wringing her hands. So, she had to look up at her a bit, but Jamie was staring down at her hands.

“Say it was me… that I - I seduced ya... and, uh, set ya up.”

Dani didn’t even know where to begin. Her head was spinning even faster now.

“People will believe ya.” 

“Jamie… ”

Jamie finally looked her in the eye.

“Dani, you love your job, right?”

She nodded after a moment, wanting to see what Jamie was getting at, though she feared she already knew.

“Then this is the only way.” 

She saw Jamie clench her jaw as she looked down again. 

“Everyone knows you’re a good teacher. They’re not gonna want to lose you… And they won’t if they can tie this up in a bow and move on… Ya might need to lie low for a bit. But by next year - ”

“Jamie!”

She took Jamie’s hands, and Jamie finally looked up, her eyes glistening. Dani felt her heart clench.

“I’m not - I’m not gonna… I mean, you really think I would do that to you? _Could_ do that to you?”

Jamie swallowed.

“I’m sayin’ ya have to.”

“But… ” 

Loathe as she was to admit it, she knew Jamie had a point. 

She’d put her phone on silent when she’d picked Jamie up last night and hadn’t checked it since they’d woken up about an hour ago, planning to get a quick bite before Dani had to go to school. Obviously, she didn’t have to worry about _that_ anymore. 

Because she _had_ finally checked her phone a couple minutes ago to find she already had several missed calls and texts from her principal, other teachers, Owen, Mrs. O’Mara and, worst of all, her mother.

“But I - I’m the one who initiated it… all of this.”

“But _I’m_ the one kissin’ _you_ in the video.”

The irony of all it was the mystery auteur — presumably a student or an employee since it had clearly been shot from inside the school, the thought of which made Dani’s stomach turn even more — had captured the most G-rated part of their reunion.

After they’d cuddled on the bench for what felt like forever — in the best possible way — Dani had stood up, turned around to face Jamie and offered her hand. Jamie had adorably shot up and kissed her, quickly and softly, giggling as she did it — not that anyone watching would know that. Not that it would make a difference. 

And that’s where the video cut off. Even if it hadn’t all it would’ve shown was them slowly walking hand-in-hand to Dani’s car in the parking lot after retrieving Dani’s backpack and driving off.

She cleared her throat.

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”

Jamie went a little wide-eyed and her mouth hung open slightly, as if that were news to her. Dani sighed and looked down at their hands, her lips quivering.

“The issue is that they _do_ , Dani. They _care_.”

Dani started to sigh again, but then her breath hitched as she realized Jamie’s hands were shaking. She looked up. Jamie’s whole body was shaking. _Had she been shaking this whole time_? Her lips quivering again, she let go out her hands and cupped Jamie’s face.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Jamie quirked an eyebrow. She would’ve laughed if she weren’t so concerned. “I mean, why are you shaking?”

Jamie lowered the eyebrow, shrugged and looked back at her hands, wringing them again as they continued to shake. Dani sighed. She should’ve known that wouldn’t work. She tried to rack her brain, and then a thought occurred to her.

“When was the last time you smoked?” 

She felt Jamie tense; but otherwise, she ignored her.

“Is that what it is? You need a cigarette?” Still nothing. “ _Jamie_.”

After a moment, Jamie’s shoulder slumped, and she nodded, wordlessly, still not looking up. Dani tensed herself, knowing she was the reason Jamie was in this state.

“Okay, do you have any on you?”

Jamie shook her head.

“Okay, do you have _any_? Or do we need to buy some?”

There was a beat of silence, then Jamie laughed awkwardly.  
  
“Threw out ma last pack yesterday.”

Dani felt another pang of guilt but nodded, trying to stay focused.

“Okay, you stay here. I’ll be back in a minute. What, umm, kind - I mean, brand?”

Jamie finally met her gaze, and Dani saw her jaw clench again before she opened her mouth, clearly about to object. But then Jamie froze, as did she.

“Dan - Miss Clayton!”

 _Flora_?

When she’d heard the door bang open — well, she didn’t really know who she’d expected. But it hadn’t been Flora. And a sobbing Flora, at that. 

She reluctantly let go of Jamie and turned around, feeling her heart clench yet again. She’d comforted Flora before — Flora having had her share of crying fits and nightmares, as kids did. 

But she actually couldn’t think of a time she’d seen her this upset. Her eyes were wild. Tears were pouring from them as she sniffled. Her face was puffy and splotchy, like she’d like been crying for a while.

“Flora? Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

She rushed over and gripped Flora’s arms, rubbing them as Flora buried her face in her hands. She had to fight the urge to crouch down. Flora was actually a bit taller than her now.

“I - I never - if I’d known - ” 

Flora was interrupted by her own sobbing as her body jerked.

“Deep breaths, Flora. Deep breaths.”

Flora managed to take a few shaky ones, but then broke down again.

“This is... all... my fault!”

Dani furrowed her brow.

“What is?”

As she said it, she felt Jamie come up behind her. 

“Flora, it’s okay. Dani and I aren’t mad, I promise.”

 _Mad_? Why would they be Flora? 

She turned to Jamie, eyebrow raised. But Jamie’s eyes were on Flora. Jamie was still shaking slightly and had shoved her hands in her pockets, but she looked... _calm_ — calmer than she had since they’d set foot in the diner.

“Jus’ tell us what happened.”

Dani turned back to Flora as she took a few shaky breaths again, then finally looked up, sniffling, and turned to... Jamie. Dani furrowed her brow. Jamie was the one who’d addressed her, but Flora was looking at her like she knew her. 

“I - I didn’t post the video, I swear!”

“But you know you did?”

“I - I’m not - ” 

Flora glanced at her for a moment with an expression she couldn’t read. Then, Flora turned back to Jamie and swallowed. 

“I might. But I’m not sure.” She went wide-eyed. “I’m really not! I’m not lying!”

As Flora started to hyperventilate, Dani saw Jamie’s shaking hand reach out and grip Flora’s shoulder.

“Shh... it’s okay. I believe ya.”

Flora just stared at her for a moment, then swallowed and nodded. And Dani felt her relax slightly.

“D’ya know who took the video?”

Jamie’s tone was gentle, but Dani felt Flora immediately tense again as her lips started to tremble again.

“I’m so sorry!”

Flora buried her face in her hands again as sobs wracked her body once more. 

Feeling her head spinning yet again, Dani turned to Jamie, who turned to her, offering something between a smile and a grimace, something apologetic. Dani felt her jaw drop slightly, then turned back to Flora.

“Flora, I - I’m not mad… I promise… but was it... you?”

Flora sobbed even harder, then nodded before leaning down and burying her face in Dani’s shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did Flora do it?! How did we like the Damie date? How about baby Dani and Jamie?
> 
> I'm honestly writing this as I go along, so this wasn't necessarily the direction I expected the story to take but here we are lol. 
> 
> As always, kudos, comments and subscriptions are much appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

_ Sitting on a curb on her route — she always did a quick loop around the school parking lot before heading back home to shower, change and eat breakfast — was  _ the _ hottest woman Flora had ever seen.  _

_ Not that she was one to ogle or objectify, especially not at the moment considering the woman was... crying, albeit stoically, loosely hugging her knees as she stared out into space.  _

_ Flora tried not to stare as she approached, but she did want to check in. Upon hearing her footsteps, she assumed, the woman immediately looked down at the pavement and rubbed her face. _

_ Now only ten or so feet away, Flora stopped, pulled her earbuds out and slung the chord around her shoulders, then tapped the phone strapped to her bicep to pause “Chained To You” by Savage Garden.  _

_ “Hey… you okay?” _

_ The woman coughed out a laugh but didn’t look up. _

_ “Bit early for class, innit?” _

_ Flora shrugged, not that the woman could see. It was mostly because the woman had actually responded — with a joke — probably for her own sake, but still. Flora was starting to feel jittery for a reason that had nothing to do with running. The woman’s accent, to top it all off, was… quite something. _

_ “Softball season.” _

_ The woman sniffed, then looked up.  _

_ “What position?” _

_ It was an easy question, but Flora had not expected her to ask, to care — not to mention the fact that the woman was actually looking at her now. Up-close her well-defined facial features were even more alluring. _

_ “I - I, umm.... ”  _

_ Her face, already flushed from exercise, burned even more as her panic evidently became obvious. The woman’s eyes widened. _

_ “Sorry, didn’t mean to… put ya on the spot. Probably shouldn’t even be talkin’ to me.” _

_ “No!” _

_ Flora could feel her face practically melting off. The woman looked even more alarmed. _

_ “You alright?” _

_ Flora swallowed, then nodded, unable to say anything. The woman nodded after a moment, then looked back down at her black-and-white checkered DC sneakers. _

_ “Anyway, ’m okay, will be, I guess… But thanks.”  
_ _  
_ _ “Sure.” _

_ They fell into silence for a few moments, Flora bouncing on the balls of her feet slightly, trying to think of what to say. She’d now  _ remembered _ she played second base — hence the running, had to be quick on her feet — but blurting that out now felt weird. Before she could land on something else, the woman looked back up. _

_ “You, uh, you can keep goin’. Ma Uber’s gonna be here soon.” _

_ She could tell from the woman’s tone and expression that she was worried she was holding her up, burdening her — and, from on the bag beside her, that she was probably telling the truth. But Flora felt a stab of ice through her chest, nonetheless, at the rejection, unintended as it clearly was.  _

_ Her emotions must have shown on her face  _ again _ because the woman softened. _

_ “Sorry, ya don’t  _ have _ to. It’s  _ your _ school… ” The woman quirked an eyebrow, and Flora felt her breath hitch. “I’m assumin’, anyway.” _

_ Flora nodded, wordlessly. The woman must have sensed her continued distress because she finally smiled. It was a small smile, gentle, and Flora felt her heart flutter.  _

_ “What grade’re ya in?” The woman’s eyes went wide again, and she held up a hand. “Don’t have to answer that. That sounded really creepy. Sorry.” _

_ Flora laughed, and the woman seemed to relax slightly after a moment. _

_ “No, it’s… it’s okay. I’m a junior.” _

_ The woman nodded. _

_ “Read  _ Wütherin’ Heights _ yet?” _

_ Flora gaped at her for a moment. They were, in fact, currently reading it in  _ Miss Clayton _ ’s class. She’d slipped up a couple times at the beginning of the year and called her “Danielle,” earning some snickers from her classmates. But Miss Clayton — understanding, as always — had taken it in stride and shut the other students down.  _

_ Flora once again must have looked absurd because the woman laughed again. _

_ “Sorry, I - I just… how did you know that?” Before the woman could answer, Flora felt her eyebrows shoot up. “Wait, did you  _ go _ here?” _

_ The woman nodded, smiling again, a hint of a smirk this time. Flora had to cough to stop a giggle from escaping. _

_ “Only senior year. But I, uh… ”  _

_ The woman rubbed the back of her next. Flora furrowed her brow. What did  _ she _ have to be flustered about? _

_ “Ma English teacher gave me the readin’ lists for the other years. So I could see if there was anythin’ I hadn’t read yet.” _

_ “And  _ Wüthering Heights _ … ” _

_ The woman nodded again. _

_ “Only one, actually.” _

_ Flora could detect the hint of pride in her voice, despite her shy expression and neck rubbing clearly trying to downplay it. It was endearing, refreshing even.  _ Unexpected _. _

_ “Wow, so you were like a...  _ nerd _.” _

_ Flora gaped at herself _ .  _ She’d already been fumbling over herself and now she’d  _ insulted _ the woman?!  _

_ The woman chuckled. _

_ “Tryna expose me, huh?” Flora went to apologize, barely breathing now, but the woman waved her off. “S’all right.” _

_ She couldn’t bring herself to say anything, until she realized the woman was staring off into space again, cocking her head and starting to frown. _

_ “What?” _

_ The woman didn’t respond for a moment, then shook her head and looked down. _

_ “Nothin’. Sorry… ”  _

_ The woman sighed, looking almost as sad now as she had when Flora had approached. As she tried to think of how to get the woman out of her funk again, a car horn blared. Jumping, she turned to find said car a few feet behind her.  _ Oh _. She shuffled onto the sidewalk, a few feet closer to the woman, who was getting to her feet.  _

_ Throwing her bag over her shoulder — which Flora couldn’t help noticing accentuated her biceps, which were already accentuated by the cuffed sleeves of a… Blockbuster T-shirt, which was tucked loosely into faded, tastefully ripped and also cuffed jeans — the woman glanced over at her. _

_ “Thanks for the chat.” She smiled again, and Flora’s brain fully short-circuited now. “Stay in school, yeah?” _

_ Flora tried for a smile herself, and then…  _ Oh, for the love of god!  _ … fingers guns?! The woman was clearly trying to choke back a laugh as she opened the back car door and threw her bag inside. _

_ “Flora!” The woman looked back, eyebrow raised, her right foot already in the car. Flora gulped. “My name’s Flora.” _

_ The woman smiled again, even warmer this time, and Flora felt her heart spasm. _

_ “Jamie.” _

_ Fortunately, the woman turned back around, ducked inside and closed the door behind her — not catching Flora nearly combust. _

_ ****** _

“Thanks, Miss Clayton.”

Flora took the glass with both hands, still a bit shaky, and took a sip as Miss Clayton walked past her toward the other couch. Once Flora had calmed down slightly, Miss Clayton had suggested they talk somewhere more private. Neither of them were going to school at this point,  _ obviously _ .

Jamie had offered her house — needless to say, Flora had almost broken down all over again. But now that they were here she was trying to steel herself. She’d already humiliated herself as it was, but she hadn’t actually done the hardest part yet — hardest  _ parts _ .

“Danielle’s okay, Flora. We’re not at school.” She sat down on the adjacent couch and turned back to her. “Or Dani, if you want.”

Flora felt her eyebrows shoot up. She’d heard Jamie call her that, but… 

“Really?”

Miss -  _ Dani _ shrugged, smiling softly.

“Up to you.”

She swallowed, nodding.

“Okay…  _ Dani _ , then. Perfectly splendid.”

She immediately groaned, dragging a hand across her face. But then, she heard Dani laugh softly and couldn’t help smiling a bit, even as her cheeks burned.  _ Mary Poppins _ being her favorite movie growing up, she’d said “perfectly splendid” a lot as a kid, like a catchphrase-level amount. And now, apparently, it was coming back... as a nervous tick?  _ Great _ .

“Owen and Hannah are gonna drive ’round for a bit, so it’s just us.”

Flora looked up, her breath catching. She hadn’t even heard Jamie come in.

They’d made a brief stop on the way, so Jamie could buy cigarettes and nicotine patches. “Just say no,” she’d quipped, glancing back at her after she’d gotten back in Dani’s car. Flora had, of course, been able to do nothing more than laugh stupidly.

Jamie was wearing a patch — Dani had adorably immediately put it on for her, despite Jamie’s adorable pushback that  _ she _ was the one who actually knew how to do it properly — but Jamie had also stayed outside for a smoke when they’d arrived. Flora understood. It wasn’t even noon, and it had already been one of the most stressful days of her life. And she wasn’t  _ in _ the video.

And Jamie had also been talking to her brother and his girlfriend — both of whom had been nice and gracious, if a bit confused as to why she was was there. Jamie presumably had been filling them in and calming them down — they’d been understandably concerned about her and Dani, which had made her feel even guiltier. 

Not that she couldn’t blame them. Nor Jamie if she’d told them that she was the one responsible for all this — well, for most of it. 

Jamie sat down now beside Dani, shooting her a quick smile before looking back at Flora, gently but inquisitively. Flora, nodded, swallowing again. She exhaled as she leaned forward to put the water glass on the coffee table, then looked down, rubbing her hands on the tights she was wearing beneath her jean shorts. 

“Well, first things first, I, umm… ” 

She could feel her body starting to tremble again as the blood rushed from her head. She shouldn’t have felt this nervous considering who she was talking to… But she’d never told  _ anyone _ before. Not even Miles. She took a deep breath, then took the plunge.

“I’m gay.”

She tried to take a deep breath again but it caught in her throat. But then, she saw a hand reach out and cover hers. She looked up. Dani had inched to the edge of the other couch and was smiling, softly but widely.

“That’s wonderful, Flora. Thank you for trusting us.”

She took a deep breath for real, then exhaled before smiling back shyly. She chanced a quick look at Jamie. She was grinning as well. 

“Welcome to the superior team.”

Flora coughed out a watery laugh, even as she felt her face flush. She saw Dani turn around, catch Jamie’s eye and mouth something. Jamie winked back. Flora smiled even wider as she looked back down at her and Dani’s hands.

“Thank you, guys. That was - you’re really sweet.” She laughed awkwardly. “That’s kinda why I got us into this mess, actually.”

She glanced back up apprehensively, her smile fading. Dani and Jamie were both looking at her a little nonplussed. 

“Oh.” Flora felt her face ignite, and she bit her lip as Jamie’s eyebrows shot up. “ _ Oh _ … ”

Brow furrowed, Dani glanced quickly between her and Jamie, then Flora felt her face boil as she watched Dani’s eyebrows rise toward her blonde side bangs. 

“ _ Oh _ … Oh, Flora, that’s okay.” She felt Dani squeeze her hand as she gave her a knowing smile. “Believe me, I get it.”

Jamie laughed, and Flora looked down again, ready to die, her eyes starting to sting.

“What?”

Jamie stopped laughing abruptly. Then there was a beat of silence.

“Oh… fuck… ”

Flora sniffed, despite herself.

“Flora, I… ”

She sniffed again.

“It’s okay.”

“No, I... "

She heard Jamie sigh, then saw her socked feet approach. She glanced up slowly, gulping as she found Jamie moving her water glass farther back on the coffee table before sitting down on it. Jamie looked pained and sighed again.

“Flora, I’m really sorry.” 

Flora looked down again, about to wave her off. She got it. She was a kid and lame to boot. And it’s not like she actually like  _ wanted _ Jamie for herself. It was just a crush.

“I thought it was Dani.”

“Oh.” She whipped her head back up, wide-eyed. “Wait,  _ what _ ?”

“That’s why I laughed, thought Dani was talkin’ ’bout herself.”

“Sorry, Flora. This one’s a bit hopeless when it comes to this stuff.”

“Hey!”

As Dani and Jamie locked eyes, Flora couldn’t help giggling, finally relaxing a bit. They then turned back to her, both smiling a bit sheepishly. And it made her heart swell even more. Then, Jamie cleared her throat.

“I really am like...  _ so _ sorry.” 

Flora did wave her off now, smiling genuinely.

“It’s okay. I believe you… and I’m over you.”

Despite blushing further, she smiled rather proudly as Jamie raised an eyebrow while Dani laughed and lifted her hand off hers, offering a fist bump. Giggling, she accepted it as she watched Jamie, clearly trying not to smile, turn to Dani. 

“ _ You _ still like me, right?”

Dani shrugged, smirking.

“I might.”

Flora sighed, slumping back against the couch. Dani and Jamie turned back to her, frowning.

“You okay?”   


That was Dani. Flora sighed again, then leaned forward but looked down, rubbing her hands on her tights again.

“My, umm - the Jamie thing… that’s not really why… the video, it wasn’t like a creepy stalker-y thing, I swear.”

She glanced back up, biting her lip again. But Dani put her hand back on top of hers. 

“I believe you.”

She saw Jamie nod in agreement and exhaled.

“Good.” 

She tried to take a deep breath but utterly failed as she felt Jamie place her hand on top of her other hand. She reflexively pulled her hand back before Jamie could even fully place hers down.

“Sorry!”

She glanced up, blushing furiously. But Jamie smiled sympathetically as she pulled her own hand back. 

“No,  _ I’m _ sorry. Should’a known.” 

Jamie chuckled as she jerked her head sideways toward Dani.

“This one couldn’t keep her hands off me in high school. It was excruciatin’.”

“ _ What _ ? ”

They both turned to find Dani gaping. Jamie laughed.

“You couldn’t!”

“Yeah, but - you never… ” Dani closed her mouth, frowning. “I’m sorry.”

Jamie’s smile softened, and she reached over, placing a hand on Dani’s thigh.

“S’all right… I mean… ” Her smile turned a bit sheepish. “I’d be lyin’ if I said I didn’t like it anyway.”

Dani blushed yet smiled shamelessly. And Flora couldn’t stop herself from looking down and groaning, slipping her hand out from under Dani’s and running both of her hands through her hair.

“Sorry, we keep cuttin’ ya off, don’t we?”

That was Jamie. 

“Oh, sorry.”

That was Dani.

Flora laughed awkwardly.

“It’s not that… exactly.”

She rubbed her face, then put her hands on her knees and looked up. She exhaled, then nodded, more to herself.

“I stayed late yesterday, just - in the library, doing homework. And then when I was heading out, I - I saw you guys on the bench… just like, umm, cuddling or whatever. And it was… ” She sighed as her face flushed. “It was like  _ really _ cute.”

Dani and Jamie both went wide-eyed, then turned to each other quizzically as if expecting the other to have some…  _ answer _ , it seemed, before looking back at her and smiling sheepishly, maybe even blushing a bit. Flora swallowed.

“So, I, umm… I just stood there for a minute.”

They nodded. Jamie had filled Dani in as she’d driven them over that she and Flora had met the day before. But even Jamie still didn’t know the whole story.

“I’d figured out who Jamie was… that she was  _ the _ Jamie.”

She gave Dani a knowing smile, and Dani coughed out a laugh.

“ _ The _ Jamie?”

They turned to find Jamie looking between them, rather mystified, then Flora turned back to Dani questioningly. Dani nodded a bit bashfully, so she turned back to Jamie, grinning.

“Dani used to talk about you like all the time when she was babysitting me and Miles.”

“Not  _ all _ the time!”

Flora giggled. Dani was definitely pinker now. Jamie seemed like she was processing. Then, she smirked after a moment, turning to Dani. 

“Poppins… ” Jamie raised an eyebrow. “Ya flatter me.”

Dani lightly whacked her upper arm, and Jamie giggled, reflexively pulling back her hand on Dani’s thigh.

“ _ Oh _ .”   
  
She’d heard Jamie call Dani “Poppins” in the car, but she hadn’t understood why until now. They both turned to her, eyebrows rising. She cleared her throat, flushing.

“Never mind. ” She exhaled. “Anyway, as I was saying, I was standing there, and I - well, I didn’t - I opened the camera app by  _ accident _ \- for real!”

They both nodded, smiling gently. She nodded to herself, then swallowed.

“So I, umm, well, you looked  _ really _ cute, like I said… so I kinda… I mean, I know it sounds really... pathetic. But I just… ” Dani placed her hand back on top of hers, and she smiled sheepishly at her. “I meant to take a photo, but I’d turned on video by accident - ” She chuckled. “ _ Another _ ‘accident,’ I know. But I really am  _ that _ dumb… And so I’d started the video and then  _ you _ started moving, so I, umm… ” She swallowed and looked down. “I kept rolling, and - well, you saw.”

She felt Dani squeeze her hand and reluctantly looked up. Dani was still smiling.

“Thank you for telling us… and it’s - it’s not ‘pathetic.’ It’s totally understandable. There’s no need to be embarrassed.”

Flora didn’t — couldn’t — quite believe her. But she also knew Dani well enough to know she’d meant what she said, so she managed a smile and nodded.

“Yeah. I mean, I’ll watch any show - like  _ any _ show - with lesbians, so I get it, too.”

She and Dani burst out laughing, and she even heard Jamie chuckle a bit at her own joke. But then Flora felt the lingering knot in her stomach tighten. 

“I still haven’t… “ She sighed as Dani and Jamie turned back to her. “I mean, I’m  _ really _ not sure… like I said.” She couldn’t stop her face from falling as she looked at Dani specifically. “But I didn’t send the video to anyone, didn’t  _ show _ it to anyone… And there’s - there’s only one person I can think of who… ” She swallowed. “Who  _ could’ve _ seen it.”

******

“Hey, I was gonna put on some tea, if ya want some.”

Hanging off the doorframe, Jamie watched Flora, sitting on the porch swing, look up from her phone almost like she didn’t understand what she’d said, and she didn’t respond.

“What?”

Flora frowned slightly.

“It’s kinda hot out.”

“And?”

It was meant to be teasing but came out rather lifeless, and Jamie wanted to kick herself as she watched Flora’s face flush, her eyes widen.

“S’okay. Got  _ ice _ tea, if ya like. And I was gonna make mac and cheese.”

It was lunchtime, and she hadn’t even had breakfast yet. And she suspected Flora may not have, either. She tried for a smile, and Flora finally seemed to relax, even perk up a little.

⧫

“Oh… sorry.”

Jamie turned from the stove, having just put on the kettle and the pot for the pasta, to find Flora, sitting on one of the stools behind her, lowering her Honest Green Tea bottle back down to the countertop. Flora had opened it but not yet taken up a sip, apparently. 

Jamie frowned. Flora had happily quite accepted it, remarking it was one of her favorite iced tea brands and flavors.

“I have other stuff, too. Soda or juice or… ”

Flora shook her head.

“It’s not that. I just… ” Flora met her gaze. “This is for  _ her _ , right?” 

Jamie raised an eyebrow, and Flora smiled, almost conspiratorially.

“She has one every day at school. Keeps it on her desk.” 

Oh…  _ Of course _ , she does. Jamie had noticed at that very same school that it was Dani’s drink of choice. She’d run out only yesterday to buy a few bottles shortly after her somewhat embarrassing yet admittedly exhilarating — freeing — conversation with Owen, so Dani didn’t even know about them yet. She turned away to start getting out the ingredients for their mac and cheese and her tea.

“S’all right. I can always buy more.”

_ If she needed to _ .  _ If she had a  _ reason _ to _ .

They fell into silence until Jamie was getting out the last thing: milk.

“Is she - I mean, I know she’s not…  _ okay _ , but - ”

Jamie closed the fridge door and put the milk on the back counter, still facing away.  
  
“She’s a lot stronger than she thinks.”

“Yeah… Oh, god. You didn’t - you didn’t like not go with her because of  _ me _ , did you? ’Cause I’m like - I don’t need a baby- ”

Chuckling, though rather flatly, Jamie turned around, putting a hand up.

“She wan’ed to go alone. S’not you.”

Flora sighed, her whole body visibly relaxing, though she was gripping her bottle, which Jamie was pleased to see had been partially drunk, with two hands. 

“I’m sure she’ll be back soon.”

Jamie felt her eyes widen. Flora was looking at her like she could see right through her. Fortunately, the kettle rang, so Jamie had an excuse to turn around.

_ If Dani’s smart, which she is, she won’t be. _

Jamie turned off the burner, took the kettle off, opened the spout and almost poured it before realizing she had put neither the milk nor the tea bag in her cup yet. Cursing herself —  _ mentally _ , for Flora’s sake — she put the kettle back on the still warm burner.

“She  _ will _ be.”

_ Jesus _ , what was with this kid? 

Yesterday, Flora had  _ inadvertently _ reminded her of a conversation she’d had with Dani back in high school — one she’d initiated only to have it backfire spectacularly...

_ “You’re such a nerd.” _

_ “Doing homework’s nerdy?” _

_ “The  _ li’tral _ definition, I’m pretty sure.” _

_ “I’m  _ reading _ … ” _

_ “Your point bein’?” _

_ “If doing my  _ reading _ homework is nerdy, then you’re the biggest  _ nerd _ there is.” _

And now it seemed like Flora was _literally..._ _reading_ her mind. 

Jamie cleared her throat, though it did nothing to dislodge the lump in it.

“She'll do what's best for her… as she should.”

She managed to say it surprisingly casually as she unscrewed the milk carton. She then tilted it carefully, only aiming to pour a smidge, when Flora suddenly burst out laughing. 

Jamie jumped, nearly losing her grip on the carton as spilled more milk onto the counter than into the cup.

“Sorry!”

Flora’s continued laughter rather undercut the sentiment. And just then the kettle started to ring again. Grumbling, Jamie put the carton back on the counter in a puddle of its own milk, put the kettle on the backburner and turned around, trying her best not to glare. She ended up having to fight a smile. Flora looked lighter than she had all morning.

“Sorry, I didn’t - it’s just... ” Eyes bright, Flora coughed, evidently trying to reign herself in. “She was right. You are kinda hopeless.”

******

_ Dani had felt numb. Now she was angry. _

_ Her  _ own _ mother?! _

_ It had been a plot twist, for sure. And yet, also not.  _

_ Her mother had been... less than thrilled to learn her only daughter, only child was gay when she’d finally worked up the nerve to tell her her senior year of college — born, more than anything, out of her exasperation at her mother’s continued nagging about why she couldn’t just “make things work” with Eddie.  _

“Danielle, for all you know, you might never get another man.”

“I don’t  _ want _ another man, Mom! I don’t want  _ any _ man!”

_ The phone call had ended shortly after that. They hadn’t spoken about it again until her mother had brought it up  _ indirectly _ … at Eddie’s funeral — well, his viewing the morning of. _

“Shame.”

_ She’d said it — at his closed casket, no less — as if to mean “what a shame that this young man died suddenly, unexpectedly.” But Dani had known what she’d really meant and had stopped speaking to her all together after breaking down and fleeing the funeral home. She hadn’t told her about Jamie — had  _ never _ told her about Jamie. Not because she was ashamed of Jamie, quite the opposite. She’d wanted to protect what they’d had, protect Jamie. _

_ And she still did, five years later — more than ever. She would be damned if she were going to stand for Jamie to be treated this way by anyone,  _ least of all Karen _. And for Flora — who she’d sent outside to sit on the porch, trying to spare her seeing her in this state, not wanting to make her feel even guiltier — for Flora to be used by her mother just to hurt her, to spite her. _

_ “I have to go.” _

_ “Do you want company?” _

_ “No!” _

_ Jamie had already suggested, like immediately, that she let her fall on her sword for her. And now here Jamie was trying to do it  _ again _ , despite now knowing this was, if not her fault, then at least  _ her _ problem. _

_ “Dani - ” _

_ “I have to go.” _

******

“How would you feel about making this a permanent position?”

Shockingly, Uber driver had not been Rebecca’s top career choice after graduating with an English degree from Des Moines University last year. But teaching hadn’t been, either — let alone, substitute teaching.

Law school was her ultimate goal. But, not having gotten into any of her top schools, she’d decided to take a gap year. It had been for the best, really. Given her time to refocus on her and Peter’s relationship. She could be going halfway across the country in the fall — she’d reapplied, of course, and would be hearing back  _ this _ month — and it would be important to reaffirm their foundation in case they had to go long-distance. 

They’d been together for nearly a decade now, on-and-off, but never off for long and never truly  _ apart  _ to begin with.

She had almost gone out of state for college. She’d always wanted to live in New York City and had gotten into NYU, her dream school. Peter, set on being a financier, had always felt destined to end up in New York, too, and gotten into Fordham on a baseball scholarship. 

But then he’d gotten injured in the very last game of the season and immediately lost the scholarship. He hadn’t been rejected outright, but his family had been unable to afford tuition without the assistance. So, Peter had had to settle for Des Moines University. 

He hadn’t insisted she join him. But he’d been in quite a bad way, and she hadn’t felt comfortable just ditching him. Plus, it was partially her fault. They’d had an argument right before the game, and Peter said it had thrown him off, distracted him, which is why he’d overstretched going for a catch at first and torn his ACL.

Peter had since recovered and was now training to take over the family farm. He would be staying in Iowa, and she would be, too, once she got her degree. People need lawyers everywhere, right?

When she’d scrambled to find work last spring, her options had been fairly limited considering an English degree wasn’t useful for much beyond getting into grad school… and teaching English. In their small school district, exactly one English teaching position had opened up. At the high school. She’d gone out for it right away... as had Danielle. 

Needless to say, she had not gotten it. It was fair. Danielle had been valedictorian, graduated from a top teaching program and, on top of it all, always  _ wanted _ to be a teacher, talked about it since elementary school, in fact. And they’d been friends, always run in the same circles. So Rebecca couldn’t hold it against her, really.

But here she was talking to Principal Wingrave in Danielle’s classroom after having covered her classes for the day. 

She’d had to institute a policy of silence in every one of those classes — by the last one, she’d told the students before they’d even sat down that they were not to speak until the bell rang — to save herself from fielding any and all questions about her former classmate being caught on tape kissing her other former classmate and friend.

“Are you saying Danielle quit?”

“I’m saying it would be best for  _ everyone _ involved to nip this issue in the bud.”

Rebecca raised an eyebrow.

“Issue?”

Mr. Wingrave, who’d been a History teacher when they’d gone there — and rather close to Danielle, she’d thought, close enough for her to babysit his niece and nephew, at least — waved a hand impatiently.

“Issue. Matter. The point is we need to get it resolved as quickly as possible. Viola Lloyd has been calling me all day. I think she’s ready to march over here with the entire PTA, entire town for all I know, if this isn’t put to rest.”

“So you’re saying Danielle is out, regardless?”

Rebecca almost winced upon hearing how she’d phrased it. Mr. Wingrave didn’t seem to have noticed, but he wasn’t rushing to answer her, either.

“Have you even spoken to her?”

“I tried calling, but she didn’t pick up.”

“Can you really blame her? It hasn’t even been a whole day yet. I’m sure it’s a lot for her to process.”

“Well, it’s a lot for  _ everyone _ to process, isn’t it? That’s the issue.”

_ Again with that word _ .

“So you’re really not even going to give her a chance to fight for her job?”

Mr. Wingrave didn’t say anything for a moment, then sighed.

“I’m giving  _ you _ that chance. Do you want it… or not?”

******

Had it been extreme?

The girl was the one who’d left her unlocked phone lying unattended on the table at the diner — a table she’d  _ had _ to pass on her way out with her take-out — and with...  _ that _ playing. 

Was she just supposed to  _ not _ have seen it? To have  _ unseen _ it — not that she hadn’t tried — after the fact? 

The fact of the matter was she  _ had  _ seen it. And she’d know what to do. What to do for Danielle. What she  _ had _ to do for Danielle.

She heard a knock at the door and looked up from her magazine, a hint of a smile on her lips. Already in the living room, she stood up from her chair, made it to the door in a few steps and opened it.

“I was wondering when you’d shown up.”

******

_ “Fancy Poppins, do ya?” _

_ Owen was only staring at her because Jamie had been staring at her. She’d been staring at her for weeks, clearly thinking she was being subtle — which just made it even more adorable in Owen’s opinion.  _

_ “Poppins?” _

_ Eyebrow raised, Owen turned to find her blushing, then glaring. They were sitting in the back row of bleachers at the Homecoming pep rally — a  _ mandatory _ pep rally — that being the only reason Jamie had attended at all, he knew. Well, maybe not the  _ only _ reason.  _

_ Danielle — or Dani, as she apparently preferred to be called, according to Jamie — was down on the field giving some speech — one she clearly did not want to be giving if her body language was any indication — about school spirit. Owen had mostly been tuning her out. He liked Dani, of course. It was impossible not to, really.  _

_ But he’d never been much interested in football.  _ American _ football, that is.  _ Football _ football was pretty much the only sport he found exciting. _

_ Jamie, on the other hand, had been listening with rapt attention — far more attention than Owen had ever seen her pay her teachers when she was supposed to be learning. In fact, he was surprised she’d been able to tear her eyes away long enough to catch  _ him _ looking at Dani. _

_ Jamie turned back to her now, evidently choosing to ignore his comment. He couldn’t blame her. But he was also a bit weary of doing this dance. They’d known each for over two years now, and he’d picked up on her attraction to women fairly quickly. _

_ His mother had in a well-intentioned, motherly way started asking her about boys from time to time — boys at school or on the street. He’d gathered Jamie wasn’t a fan of personal questions to begin with, but he’d noticed these questions always made her particularly uncomfortable, though she’d dodge them well enough. _

_ Eventually, that, along with the “evidence” he’d gathered just in spending time with her — she wasn’t that subtle about looking at women, period, if you could recognize it for what it was at least — had convinced him to say something to his mother. _

“Mum, can you  _ please _ stop asking her about boys and stuff?”

“I’m just trying to help.”

“No, I know, but you… you’re not.”

“Owen, you’re not a mother. You don’t - ”

“It’s not about that… I don’t think she…  _ likes _ boys.”

“Oh…  _ Oh _ .... Should I start asking her about girls?”

“No!”

_ His mother had backed off after that. Not that she’d treated Jamie any differently. If anything, she’d been even more affectionate, which had seemed to catch Jamie off-guard, though she’d seemed to appreciate it — in her own way.  _

_ Owen had never had the conversation with Jamie herself, though. _

_ “I think  _ you _ fancy, Poppins.” _

_ He’d leaned in, whispered it, though there wasn’t anyone else nearby — Jamie preferred sitting in the back row for a reason. And he’d said it as a statement, gently but firmly, without a hint of teasing. She turned to him now, ghostly pale, even started to tremble slightly. For a moment, Owen was worried she might faint, so he grabbed her upper arm. _

_ “Hey, hey, s’all right… you could do a lot worse.” _

_ Jamie’s eyebrows rose as her mouth hung open, like she could quite believe what he’d said, though he could feel her relax ever so slightly. He smiled widely, a bit mischievously. _

_ “And  _ I _ have always wanted to be a straight best friend.” _

_ For a few moments, Jamie continued gaping at him. And then she laughed, despite herself, and then she rolled her eyes, like she did most of the time when he talked to her. Owen felt his smile widen and released his grip on her arm as he felt the tension melt away before wrapping his arm around her shoulders instead. _

_ Still laughing, even lighter now, Jamie leaned into him and then rested her head on his shoulder. Dani finished her speech and got off the make-shift stage. Then it was onto the cheerleaders. Jamie cleared her throat. _

_ “Thanks, mate.” _ _  
_ _  
_ _ “No need to thank me, Jay. Like I said, you’re doing me a favor.” _

******

Jamie knew this was a bad idea. 

“Hey, Uncle Henry! Sorry, I forgot my key. This is my new friend -

Jamie would’ve walked Flora home anyway. While it was still light out, it was inching toward dusk; and while she had assured Flora that she wasn’t her “babysitter,” she did feel Flora was her responsibility in a sense. Flora had had quite a trying day, after all — so much so that she’d taken a three-hour nap on the couch after lunch. 

But the reason Jamie was here, as far as Flora was aware, was because of her uncle and legal guardian. She’d explained quite spiritedly to Jamie on the way over that she was sure Mr. Wingrave, the principal, would be understanding about this whole situation if they could just meet and talk it over. And since Dani was otherwise occupied for the moment, Jamie could break the ice at least. 

Her optimism would’ve been infectious if Jamie weren’t a cynic. Though even she had assumed that at the very the least, this couldn’t make things any worse. She was wrong.

“I know who she was.”

Mr. Wingrave, hand in still on the knob, was only holding the door open about halfway, immediately having stopped and locked eyes with her upon registering her presence. Hands in her pockets, Jamie cleared her throat as she rocked back on her heels slightly.

“Mr. Wingrave.”

Flora looked between them, not seeming to fully grasp the tension. Or maybe not wanting to.

“Oh, that’s right. Were you her teacher?”   


“I never had the... pleasure, no. Flora, come inside.”

“I wanted the three of us to talk.”

He finally turned to Flora, his steely facade cracking.

“What?”

Jamie glanced sideways at Flora, tilting her head up slightly. Having been short her entire life, it was second-nature at this point to look up at people, even kids. Flora seemed taken aback but her uncle’s rather biting tone, but then she swallowed.

“Well, about Miss Clayton - ”

“Miss Clayton is not your concern.”

“She’s my friend.”   
  
“She’s your teacher.”

Jamie caught it. He’d hesisted between the last two words. She wanted to follow-up, but Flora beat her to it.

“She  _ is _ still my teacher, right?”

Mr. Wingrave almost winced.

“Flora, it’s a school night. And you already missed  _ today _ , which - ”

“Will I be seeing Miss Clayton tomorrow?”

Flora’s “clear eyes, full hearts” attitude was fully gone now. It broke Jamie’s heart, and she was already having a hard enough time suppressing the rage building inside her on Dani’s account. Mr. Wingrave cleared his throat.

“Flora, it’s not that simple… People like this - ”

At that, Jamie finally broke. She stepped forward and slightly in front of Flora on the doorstep, taking her hands out of her pockets to gesture.

“Hey!” Mr. Wingrave turned back to her as she got in his face. “I don’t give a fuck what ya say ’bout _me_ , but you’re _not_ gonna do it in front ah her!”

If Mr. Wingrave understood what she was really trying to say, he didn’t seem to care. Though maybe he really was that ignorant of his own niece, not that that made it any better. He turned back to Flora.

“Flora, I won’t ask again.”

There was a beat of silence.

“You don’t have to. Jamie, let’s go.”  
  
Her voice was small, shaky. Jamie turned back to find her biting her lip, which was also trembling. As Jamie stepped back alongside her, she felt Flora take her hand. Jamie squeezed it.

“Flora!”

“Don’t wait up.”

She said it icily — well, as icily as she could with a wavering voice. Mr. Wingrave looked stunned.

Jamie felt a pull on her hand and let Flora drag her away. She heard the door slam shut behind them. At the end of the block, Flora stopped and dropped her hand. She was quivering.

“Hey… Flora, look at me…  _ Flora _ .”

She finally turned, and Jamie could see a few tears trickling down her face. Her eyes were wide but glazed over. Jamie reached up, hesitated for a moment and then gently gripped Flora’s shoulder with her right hand.

“I’m really sorry it didn’t work out… but that was so brave, what ya did. I know Dani appreciates it. And so do I.”

Flora said nothing, didn’t even react.

“Flora?”

Looking back, Jamie also should’ve seen this coming with the way Flora was looking at her. But contrary to Dani’s assumption yesterday, she was not used to being popular.

She managed to cup Flora’s mouth with her right hand, having flung it over from her shoulder. Not an ideal way to handle the situation. But it was a split-second save — one that Flora would definitely thank her for later. 

She removed her hand the moment after Flora opened her eyes. It was evident in them the hand would no longer be needed, though their faces were still only a few inches apart.

“Oh my god… ”

“Flora - ”

“Oh my god!”

With that, Flora let go of her T-shirt, which she’d gripped just below the collar as she’d leaned down, and stumbled back. Jamie almost lunged to stop her from stepping into the street. But Flora caught herself on the curb.

“Flora, it’s okay.”

She shook her head, tears now streaming down her face now.

“I - I didn’t mean to!”

Her voice cracked.

“I know ya didn’t.”

Jamie took a slow, tiny step forward.

“D’ya have a friend’s house I can take ya to?”

Flora didn’t respond, eyes glued to the sidewalk as she clenched her fists at her sides.

“You’re also welcome at mine, ah course. That couch is pretty comfy, yeah?” Flora still didn’t respond, though she loosened her fists somewhat. “Hannah and Owen should be back by now, too. We can order a pizza.”

After a few moments, Flora nodded slowly, then looked up, opening her mouth, seemingly to accept. But then her eyes went wild once more.

“Flora?”  
  
“D - Danielle.”

Jamie wanted to facepalm, not that she could be certain Dani would be returning tonight.  _ Or at all _ . 

“We… she’ll understand. Trust me.”

She’d almost said “we can keep it between us.” But that  _ would _ actually be creepy. 

And considering Dani was the one who knew Flora better, keeping it from her would also be both impossible and counterproductive. Even if Dani didn’t come back to her house, Jamie would have to tell her about what Mr. Wingrave had let slip — if she didn’t know already — and ending the story there would not explain why Flora would undoubtedly be acting awkward around Dani whenever she next saw her. 

“Oh, god… What if you hadn’t stopped me in time!”

Flora started backing around the corner. Jamie turned to continue facing her.

“Flora - ”

“I - I betrayed - ”

“Flora!”

“I’m so sorry!”

With that, Flora turned on her heels and sprinted away, her sobs echoing against the sidewalk. 

“FLORA!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So everything kinda blew up there, huh? How are we feeling so far? 
> 
> Will Rebecca take the job? How did we like that baby Jamie and Owen flashback? How about poor gay panic Flora? And the Dani-Karen showdown?
> 
> As always, kudos comments and subscriptions are much appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions will be answered, others will arise. Also, note the new tag.

_“Your daughter.”_

_Flora found the photograph in Uncle Henry’s study._

_She’d only gone in study to look for a Rubik’s Cube. Having already finished her homework, she was bored and had decided she would finally teach herself how to solve it — not on her own, with Youtube, obviously. She remembered playing with one in his office, shortly after she and Miles had moved in and shortly before he’d found her, grabbed it and kicked her out. She’d run off crying and hadn’t gone back in since._

_But she was 17 now. Uncle Henry was out. And the door was unlocked._

_She’d checked the top of his desk, the bookshelves, the couch, the chairs, even the floor, until she’d finally resorted to going through his desk drawers. It was in the bottom right drawer that she’d found it — the photograph, not the Cube._

_The framed photograph of her mom holding her as a baby. She’d started to cry immediately, happily. She’d never seen this photo before. With slightly shaky hands, she’d turned it over, placed it down on the desk and started to pull up the latches keeping the back of the frame in place. She was looking for a date. She knew people used to write them on the back of photos back when you actually had to get them developed._

_She didn’t find a date, but she recognized her mother’s handwriting immediately and cried even harder now. She read the words over and over for several minutes. And then she started to process them. She put the photo back down on the desk, on top of the back of the frame, and went through the rest of the drawers, not without difficulty. The tremor in her hands was getting worse._

_There were no other photos in the drawers. No photos on top of the desk. No photos anywhere else in the room. No photos of Miles._

_Surely, she was overthinking this. She shouldn’t even be in here._

_“Flora? I’m home.”_

_It was Miles. But still, she had to get out of here. She grabbed the photo and frame, scurried off to her room, put them in the drawer of her nightstand and ran downstairs to catch up with her brother._

_She tried to put it out of her mind — tried to act no differently around Uncle Henry, around either of them, at dinner. She had no proof. And yet…_

_If her dad had been there when it was taken — had_ taken _it, presumably — why would her mom have felt the need to write that on the back? Why had she never seen it displayed in their old house? Why was it not even displayed here in Uncle Henry’s house? Why was it hidden in his desk?_

_She must have passed out at some point, but she still woke before her alarm, exhausted. And then she checked her phone — texts, Insta, Facebook… then Twitter._

******

To say this was not how Henry had thought his day would go when he’d awoken would be an understatement. Contrary to what anyone might think, he was not one to concern himself with other people’s affairs. After all, he was hardly in a position to judge. 

Except that he was. That was literally his job now — not that he’d ever anticipated anything like this when he’d accepted the promotion last summer. And while it did pain him to let Danielle — his best student and now best teacher — go, keeping her wasn’t practical if it meant making enemies of parents, administrators and other teachers.

Plus, Danielle had been a no-show and non-responsive. So he had legitimate grounds for dismissal. And if Rebecca accepted, there would be no need to make a big show of it. It would be a seamless transition. 

“Miles!” 

Henry had already trudged up the stairs and was now banging on his nephew’s door — the more pressing matter, of course, being that his own daughter had run off with Jamie Taylor. It would be getting dark soon, and Jamie was a stranger. Sure, he knew her name but really nothing else about her, beyond that she’d always been a troublemaker. 

“MILES!”

Still receiving no response, Henry opened the door to find Miles sitting at his desk playing one of his video games with headphones on. He tapped on his shoulder, and Miles almost jumped out of his skin before swiveling.

“Oh… ” Miles lowered his headphones. “What’s up?”

“Your sister. I need to find her.”

“Oh, no, she should be here soon. She texted me she was heading over.”

Miles lifted his headphones.

“She was.”  
  
“What?”

Miles called out louder than he’d needed to and lowered his headphones again. Henry took a deep breath, trying to maintain his composure. 

“She _was_ here. But then… ”

Miles cocked his head.

“What?”

Henry huffed.

“Just find her and bring her back.”

Henry turned around and started walking away.

“What’s going on? Is she okay?”

Henry stopped, almost at the door.

“She _will_ be when you bring her back.”

“ _What_ happened?!”

Henry turned back. Miles was standing now and glaring at him. Henry sighed. They’d gotten closer in recent years, especially as Miles had started to outgrow the anger issues that had sprung up after his parents’ deaths — and, yes, perhaps had Danielle played a part in helping Miles work through it. 

“There was a… _misunderstanding_ , and she left with… ”

“Jamie?”

Now it was Henry’s turn to cock his head.

“You know Jamie Taylor?”

“Yeah. She’s a friend of Danielle’s.”

Before Henry could respond, he saw Miles eyebrows start to rise. 

“Wait, is that what this is about?”

Henry sighed.

“Miles - ”

Miles stepped toward him. Unfortunately, he no longer had height on his side since Miles did, too.

“Did you _fire_ Danielle?”

“I will explain everything as soon as you retrieve your sister.”

“So we can be talked down to, I don’t think so… I really thought better of you.”

Miles shoved past him, heading for the door.

“Miles!”

Yes, this was most certainly not how Henry had thought his day would go. 

******

The idea of taking a day trip, even to get lunch a few towns over, had not sat well with Hannah nor with Owen. But Jamie had explained that she and Dani needed the house to themselves, at least for a little while. Jamie had been characteristically scant on the details, but it seemed that poor girl, Flora, was mixed up in all this somehow, too, and they needed time to speak with her alone.

So she and Owen had gotten in her rental car. But short of driving in circles, their only options had been driving out of town or _into_ town. And Hannah had been genuinely concerned about what might happen if — well, _when_ — someone approached Owen. He was the gentlest man she knew, the gentlest person she’d ever met. But everyone had their limits, and she’d never seen him this angry. 

It was his silence that gave it away. Owen was passionate and that was usually apparent in part due to his inability to be quiet. It was when he _was_ quiet, when he evidently felt _so_ deeply that he _couldn’t_ speak, that’s when she knew to be concerned.

He’d barely said ten words to her since they’d set off. Not that she could blame him, of course. She didn’t have siblings herself. But she’d seen the bond that Owen shared with Jamie first-hand. It was like they were two sides of the same coin — even down to how they expressed emotion.

Witty as Jamie was, quiet was her default. In fact, it had taken Hannah months to have a full conversation with Jamie independent of Owen. It was when Jamie became talkative that you knew you’d done something right. Though it could also mean you’d done something very wrong. Fortunately, Hannah only knew that in theory. Granted, quiet could also mean you’d done something wrong, and Jamie had simply shut down. She was perhaps the most complicated person Hannah had ever met. 

The point was Jamie and Owen complimented each other quite well and would do anything for each other. So Hannah knew that was what Owen was wrestling with, too, in addition to his anger — a sense of helpness. But she’d explained that it would be best to let the dust settle a bit before taking action, if necessary, and he’d _reluctantly_ agreed.

“Dani?”

Hannah glanced over to find Owen bringing his cell to his ear. It was nearing dinnertime, though still light out, so they were on their way back. They’d walked around a bit after lunch, visited a few shops, but Owen had been practically listless. So, she’d decided they’d wait long enough, and Owen had all but run to the car. 

“No, I - I thought she was with you.”

Hannah turned back to the road, but she reached out and put a hand on Owen’s shoulder. It was practically vibrating, and he was starting to breath heavier.

“And you haven’t heard from her since? … Okay, I’ll try, too. We’re on our way back... No, no, thank you for calling… Will do.”

******

_“I’m sorry? You expect me to_ thank you _!”_

 _“Danielle, you’re an adult now. The time to…_ experiment _has passed. You need to be thinking about your future.”_

 _“How could_ this - ” Dani gestured to nothing in particular as she paced around her mother’s living room. “Possibly _be good for my future!”_

_“It would’ve come out eventually, and by that point, you might’ve been too far gone to listen to reason.”_

_“To listen to - ” Dani let out a hysterical laugh, a laugh only her mother had ever been able to push her to. “Listen to_ yourself _! You_ did _this… for_ you _!”_

_She’d been pulling her roots since she’d walked in five minutes ago. She finally sat down on the couch now, leaned back, hands still in her hair, and groaned at the ceiling. Her mother was sitting on the adjacent chair._

_“Danielle, the reality is isn’t it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what_ I _think. It matters what your colleagues, what your boss, what the parents think.”_

_The fact that her mother’s point was actually a valid one for once only made her angrier._

_“But it will all blow over when you do what needed to be done in the first place. And then, you’ll never have to worry about it again.”_

_Dani closed her eyes and groaned again. But then she sighed, and it was oddly light. She even found the corners of her mouth turning up._

_“That’s what you don’t get..._ Getting together _with Jamie..._ that’s _what needed to be done in the first place.”_

_“Danielle, you don’t know - ”_

“I _don’t know!” Eyes flashing open, Dani was on her feet before she even processed she was moving. “_ You _haven’t known what to do with your life since Dad died!” Dani let out a strangled laugh at her mother’s appalled face. “I’m… I’ve always been your - like your... fucking emotional backboard ’cause you don’t know how to process anything. So you just - just throw it all at me and expect me to take it!”_

_For a moment, she just stood there panting. Her mother pressed her mouth into a familiar thin line._

_“Danielle - ”_

_It was now time for her mother to explain why her getting upset with her was actually her own fault._

_“That’s not my name! You would_ know _that if you knew me!”_

_Her mother joined her on her feet._

_“_ I’m _your - ”_

 _“Don’t you dare… ” Dani’s voice was low. “You lost the right to call yourself that a long time ago. You don’t get to use it against me now… Not when you don’t even try… when you_ never _\- ”_

 _She cut herself off as her voice began to waver and bit her lip as she felt tears stinging her eyes. Her mother was gaping. She cleared her throat.  
_ _  
_ _“I’m sorry that you never found a man... like Jamie.”_

_Her mother actually stumbled back slightly against her chair. Dani took the opportunity to whip around, walk back to the door and open it before turning back._

_“But it’s not my fault. It never was... And if you_ ever _come for Jamie... or Flora again... you’ll get to see just how much I’ve been holding back.”_

_She didn’t wait for Karen’s reaction._

******

Miles found her on the monkey bars — on top of, to be more specific — at the park just after the sun dipped below the horizon. It was the first place he’d looked. They had come a lot as kids with their parents, but even more often after they’d died. Not that Henry knew that. Danielle had always been the one to take them. And if the routine had bored her, she’d never shown it. 

Even when he’d decided at 11 that he was “too cool” for it, she’d always managed to get him to play eventually, usually under the guise of helping _her_ with Flora. He’d never quite believed her yet never quite realized she was purposefully playing to his ego. He’d just thought she recognized how responsible he was — you know, like the idiot kid with a crush that he was.

“Hey.”

Flora looked up, then down at him. She sniffled. 

“Hey.”

Her face was puffy; her eyes were red-rimmed — though she didn’t look quite as severe as she had when he’d last seen her. She’d come rushing into the diner asking if he’d see Danielle. Alarmed by her state, he’d tried to ask what was wrong — surely, it couldn’t just be about the video — but she’d just kept asking him, so he’d told her Danielle and Jamie were out back. 

Flora had run off without another word, until she’d texted him later, explaining she was going to be spending some time with them. He’d asked if she was okay, and she’d said yes. He’d figured she wasn’t telling him something, but he’d hoped she would at least talk to Danielle and Jamie about it, if not to him.

He grabbed the side bar of the monkey bars now, not having to jump since the set was designed for children, and pulled himself up, twisting as he did so, and sat down beside her on the rungs. He spoke first after a few moments.

“So… Uncle Henry sent me to bring you home.”

He turned as heard her breathe in to object and held up his right hand.

“ _But_ … I don’t want to go back, either.”

“Oh.” She exhaled as her shoulders slump, then faced forward again. “Good.”  
  
He faced forward, too, as Flora continued.

“So you heard then?”

“About Danielle? He wouldn’t get into the specifics, but - ”

“We have to do something.”

“Flora - ”

“Miles, we might be the _only_ ones who can!”

“I know!”

“Oh… ” He heard her laugh. Sorry.”

He shrugged, smiling.

“It’s okay. I was just gonna say we can’t rush into it. We need a plan.”

“Right."

“And we need to talk to Danielle again.”

That seemed like a no-brainer, but his sister didn’t respond.

“Flora?”

Even from his side view, he could see she was biting her lip. 

“What’s wrong?” He felt his eyebrows squeezing together. “Didn’t you like _just_ see her and Jamie?”

Flora still wouldn’t respond and then her shoulders slumped again, seemingly not in relief this time. 

“Did something… happen?”

He glanced down at her left hand. Even in the dim light, he could tell she was gripping the bar much harder than she needed to.

“Miles, how do - how do _feel_ about this Danielle stuff? Honestly?”

He glanced back up. Flora still seemed nervous, but she was facing him now.

“Umm, well, it’s been… an adjustment, I guess. Caught me off-guard… but she’s still my friend, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

He saw Flora’s eyes widen.

“You don’t... see her _differently_?”

Miles thought for a moment. Had anything… _changed_? He felt the corners of his mouth turning up.

“I mean, I’m _certain_ now that my crush was one-sided.”

He laughed, and Flora joined in, though it sounded a bit strained.

“But it’s not like I ever thought it wasn’t… And like she’s _always_ been who she is, right? So... ”

He trailed off as Flora suddenly leaned over and threw her arms around him, a bit awkwardly given the angle.

“Flora?”

He heard her clear her throat, then she pulled back.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

******

_There was a knock at the door. No… not the_ door _._

_Dani woke with a start, feeling her notebook slide off her lap as she sat up in the driver’s seat. Jamie was standing outside the window, waving a bit sheepishly, beside Owen. She shook her head to clear it as she bent down to retrieve her notebook, then grabbed her backpack off the passenger seat and opened the door, Jamie and Owen having stepped back._

_“All right?”_

_“Yeah, just... nodded off, I guess.”_

_She closed the door and turned to Jamie as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. Jamie still looked uneasy, so she tried for a smile and started walking. Jamie fell into step beside her, and Owen beside Jamie._

_“I have a test first period, so I was trying to get some last minute studying in.”_

_There was no need for Jamie to know that her mother had kept her up most of the night decrying her father for never loving her, for being the reason she’d never been able to hold down a relationship since. Trying to smile brighter, she turned back to Jamie._

_“Thanks for waking me.”_

_“’Course.”_

_Jamie smiled back, though Dani could see it didn’t reach her eyes. Then, she realized Jamie was still talking and now looking at her expectantly. She felt herself blush slightly._

_“Sorry, what?”_

_“Euro, right? He’s got that, too.”_

_Jamie nodded toward her brother, and Dani felt herself blush even harder on account of her brain being so sluggish. There was only one AP Euro class, and Owen was actually the only person in it who really talked to her —_ genuinely _talked to her. She cleared her throat._

_“Right.”_

_She looked up to address Owen, who was looking at her, too, over Jamie’s head. He was gangly but a foot taller than both of them._

_“Are you nervous?”_

_It was their first cumulative exam, covering everything they’d learned in the first half of the first semester. She’d been agonizing over since the beginning of the semester, naturally. Owen shrugged._

_“Well, I’m not gonna be_ setting _the curve. But I don’t know. I studied.” He grinned. “Plus, I_ am _European, so I’m hoping that counts for something.”_

 _Dani faced forward again they approached the front entrance and laughed, trying to sound as relaxed as he clearly felt. She smiled briefly as she saw Jamie whack Owen’s arm in her periphery and heard him scoff. They stepped inside a moment later, and Owen said goodbye and surged ahead of them, something about getting to his locker “_ first _.”_

_“These first-year girls have started standin’ in front ah his locker to talk to their mate that has the locker next to his. He doesn’t have the heart to yell at ’em. So he’s started avoidin’ it all together. ’Pparently, scoliosis is preferable.”_

_Dani couldn’t help smiling again._

_“But I told ’im I’d sort ’em out for ’im if I had to. So now he’s_ very _determined to make it a non-issue. Doesn’t wanna be the brother ah the girl that sent 13 year-olds to the hospital.”_

 _Dani laughed_ genuinely _for the first time that morning — for the first time that week, actually. She hadn’t run into Jamie in a few days. As she turned, she saw Jamie’s smile had reached her eyes._

 _“Ya got this, Dani. Gonna_ destroy _the curve. Everyone’s gonna hate ya.”_

_Dani laughed again._

_“You included?”_

_Jamie turned away, thoughtfully._

_“Well, Owen’s ma brother. But if he fails out, I might get his car, so… ” Dani laughed yet again. “You’ll still have me... uh, in ya corner, I mean.”_

_She heard Jamie clear her throat and turned to find her looking down at her feet, gripping her backpack with both hands. She even looked a bit flushed. Dani furrowed her brow and was about to ask if_ she _was all right. But then Dani started falling over._

_“Woah, Dani.” She felt Jamie grip her arm and waist and lean her back up. “Okay, what’s going on?”_

_Dani tried for a smile but then sighed. If Jamie didn’t buy it the first time, she wasn’t going to now. Not when kids were actively walking around them since they’d stopped in the middle of the hallway. Plus, her mind had gone even fuzzier, so she didn’t have it in her lie._

_“Just a long night. I could use some coffee, but I think it’s too - ”_

_Right on cue, the first bell rang. They only had two minutes to get to class, and they weren’t allowed to drink anything other than water during class anyway. She sighed again._

_“Hey, why don’t I take ya to the nurse’s office? I’m sure they’ll under- ”_

_“I’ll be okay._ Really _.” She smiled again and actually didn’t have to force it as much as she would’ve thought. Jamie still hadn’t let go of her and went to object again. “But thank you.”_

_With that, she gently slipped out her grasp and continued down the hallway.  
  
_

⧫

_“All right, everything away except for a pencil.”_

Here goes nothing _._

_Not even a minute later, as Dani was reading the first question, the fire alarm blared, and she almost jumped out of her seat. She’d never really been a fan of fire drills, still a bit wigged out by them... And, apparently, she wasn’t the only one._

_“Oh my god, Jamie!”  
_ _  
_ _Jamie, a few feet down the hall, was screaming, clutching an open cup of tea, if the string hanging down from the rim was anything to go by, that had apparently spilled onto her T-shirt. She ran over to her._

_“Are you okay?!”_

_Before she could think better of it, Dani found her hand instinctively reaching out to Jamie’s chest. The fabric of her T-shirt was damp but not nearly as hot as she would’ve expected. Jamie leaned forward._

_“Backpack.”_

_Jamie said it into her ear, just loud enough to hear over the sounds of the alarm and of their fellow students rushing back out into the hallway. For a moment, Dani was baffled, and then she saw another white cup — this one in the side pouch Jamie’s backpack._

_“Hurry.”_

_Dani grabbed it, carefully — it was hot — and stood back as she brought it to her nose._ Coffee _. She cocked her head, and Jamie winked, smirking. Before she could even_ try _to ask, she felt Jamie gently nudge her ankle with her foot. Then, Jamie started screaming again._

_“What’s happened?!”_

_That was Mr. Wingrave, her Euro teacher. Dani started walking away, slowly. She took a sip of the coffee. It was almost exactly how she liked it — cream and sugar, maybe a bit too much, actually. She smiled to herself imagining Jamie trying to decide on the right amount — Jamie who could probably drink it black without even wincing._

_“I - I’m sorry!” She heard Jamie start to sob quite dramatically. “I was rushin’ to class, tryna finish ma tea, an’ I - I tripped... the lid popped an’ - an’ then I - I must’a... I wasn’t tryna ah, I swear! I’m so sorry!”_

_It was only then as she turned around at the end of the hall that Dani realized Jamie was standing directly in front of the fire alarm._

******

“I’m sorry.”

Flora had been walking with Miles in comfortable silence for about fifteen minutes before she broke it. 

They’d stayed at the park for hours, talking, then even playing. It had seemed an apropos way to celebrate. Then, they’d gone for late-night pizza — her choice, his treat. Jamie had put the thought in her head earlier and recounting the story for Miles had brought it back to the forefront. They’d eaten outside, straight out of the box, on a bench across the street upon hearing the “talk” inside in the shop; and they were now going back to Jamie’s house — well, she was going back; Miles was going for the first time — with the three slices they had left.

“Sorry for what?”

“Not telling you sooner.”

She felt Miles, who was holding the pizza box, put his other arm out to stop her.

“Hey, don’t think like that. It was _your_ choice. And I don’t blame you for being nervous.” Flora felt her eyebrows rise instinctively, and then saw Miles’ do the same. “Not that - I mean, I _hope_ I would’ve… ” He sighed. “Although I could be an asshole as a kid, couldn’t I?” 

As Flora went to object — Miles’ assessment was too harsh, though not entirely untrue — she heard him press on. 

“The point is you told me. And I’m really glad you did.”

He smiled warmly, and she tried to return it as she felt her heart clench. There was another conversation she’d been putting off, and she wasn’t sure he would be quite so understanding of her continuing silence, especially considering it concerned him, too. Granted, she couldn’t exactly spring on him with no actual proof.

“Thanks.”

As they set off again, she heard him clear his throat.

“By the way, I hope you’ve realized by now that Jamie doesn’t ‘hate’ you… And Danielle won’t, either.”

Flora felt her cheeks burn again as they had when she’d told him.

“Have _you_ ever tried to kiss your friend’s girlfriend?”

“Well, no, but - ”

Flora burst out laughing and heard Miles chuckle a moment later. She trailed off with a sigh.

“I just feel really bad that I… I just _had_ to throw something _else_ on the pile, ya know?” Her tone darkened. “Like they don’t already have enough going on… _also_ because of me.”

“Flora - ”

Flora couldn't help rolling her eyes. Not that she was annoyed with Miles. She was annoyed with herself.

“I know you’re right. I just - 

“Flora, Miles, thank god!”

******

_“I thought you wanted to be a lawyer?”_

_Peter turned on the faucet in the bathroom and splashed water on his face as he heard Rebecca answer from the bedroom._

_“I do, still do. But it’s always good to have a back-up, right? And even assuming I get in, I won’t be leaving until late summer anyway, so I figure I can make some real money in the meantime.”_

_He turned off the faucet and rubbed his face with his hands before running them through his hair as he leaned back up._

“Real _money?” Peter spit the words as he grabbed his toothbrush. “As opposed to what I make.”_

_“No, of course not!”_

_Peter uncapped the toothpaste._

_“I mean better than what I make. With Uber and sub- ”_

_“Fuck!"_

_Peter had squirted the toothpaste tub so hard he’d overshot the brush and gotten his undershirt instead._

_Throwing the brush and tube into the sink, he grabbed at the Y-back of his shirt, pulled it over his head and threw it on the floor before leaning over and gripping the sink. He’d woken up with the sun — today had been particularly tiring, the temperature having reached an unseasonable 80 degrees before noon — and now the sun was setting. He needed to sleep. He’d been_ about _to go to sleep. And then Rebecca had decided to spring_ this _on him — her latest life plan._

_“I’ll - I’ll treat that now, so it doesn’t stain.”_

_He heard Rebecca pad into the bathroom behind him._

_“You know why you’re really doing this.”_

_“What?”_

_He turned around and looked down at her, still in her blouse and skirt, as she rose, holding his shirt._

_“You just want an excuse for when you have to explain why you failed..._ again _.”_

“Peter - ”

 _“’Cause it can’t be me again, right? Can’t be because you didn’t go to_ fuckin _’ NYU because you already used that one. So now, it has to be your fuckin’_ bleedin’ _heart for the kids! How could you leave them when you’ve gotten so attached? It’s pathetic, Rebecca, even for you.”_

_“Peter!”_

_He could see her eyes glistening, and he could hear it in her voice. She was trying to get him to feel sorry for her. It made his blood boil._

_“Admit it! Admit that you’re a goddamn coward!”_

******

Dani had no idea what was going on.

After her _conversation_ with her mother, she’d needed to clear her head, so she’d driven to her apartment, taken a shower, eaten lunch, watched some TV — well, _watched_ was putting it strongly. She’d tried to decompress. The last thing she’d needed was to take out her anger and frustration on the very person she’d been trying to protect.

But once she’d felt sufficiently back to herself by early evening, she’d gotten back in her car and called Jamie. She’d been about to volunteer to pick up dinner on her way before realizing the obvious flaw in that plan. But it hadn’t mattered anyway because Jamie hadn’t answered. Dani figured maybe she’d taken a nap, but then she’d arrived to find the house empty — no Jamie, no anyone. 

She’d calmed down slightly upon hearing Owen and Hannah were on their way back, though hearing that Jamie hadn’t contacted Owen either hadn’t been reassuring. And then she’d gotten his text a minute later that Jamie also wasn’t answering him. Granted, Dani had been avoiding her phone, too, in the interest of not having to “explain herself” to people she knew, let alone the media, who had somehow gotten her number, if the exponential uptick in calls from unknowns was any indication.

But now it had been hours, and Jamie was still M.I.A. Adding to the mystery, her bag and her passport were still in her room — Dani had almost had a heart attack when _that_ thought had occurred to her — so Jamie couldn’t have gone far. But why today of all days would she have gone out at all? Dani had called Flora too to check if she and Jamie had run out — though “running out” wouldn’t take hours — but Flora hadn’t answered, either.

“We’ll find her, Dani. I promise.”

“What if someone else does _first_ ? Or already did?”  
  
Dani could tell by Owen’s subsequent pause that he’d been thinking the same thing.

“Look, she… ” She heard Owen sigh. “She does this sometimes.” 

She saw him look down as he laughed awkwardly. He was sitting on the edge of the couch she was pacing behind, hands in her hair.

“After prom, she - ”

“What?” She said it sharply as she stopped abruptly. She saw Owen almost flinch. “Owen, _what_?”

“They’re gone.”

 _Saved by the girlfriend_. Dani turned as Hannah closed the front door behind her. 

Shortly after Dani had arrived back at the house, the media had turned up in full-force. The only surprise had been how long it had taken them to identify the other women as Jamie and figure out where she lived. Or maybe they’d been hoping to lull them into a false sense of security before ambushing them just in time for the 5 o’clock news. 

Dani, of course, had stayed inside. The blinds had been pulled closed all day. When Hannah and Owen had returned, Hannah, _bless her_ , had volunteered to run interference. She was quite gifted at giving non-answers, it turned out, though even still, the “journalists” had been determined not to take the hint. In fact, it was more than likely they’d only given up now because it was nearly midnight.

Dani sighed, running her hands all the way through her hair before clenching them into fists at her sides.

“Thanks, Hannah. I’m - I’m so sorry.”

Hannah walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. 

“No need to thank me or apologize, dear. None of this is your fault.” Hannah pointed back toward the door with her other hand and gave her a small smile. “I’ll be out there every day if that’s what it takes.”

Dani coughed. _God help them all if she and Jamie were the top story for days_.

“Thanks.”

She reached up and cupped Hannah’s hand for a moment before walking past her. She peaked through the blinds, not having been able to look outside all night. 

“Oh, thank god… ”

“Dani?”

That was Owen, but she’d already flung open the front door. She called out to Flora and Miles as she sprinted across the lawn. They looked surprisingly alarmed to see her considering they’d been on their way here. Well, she hoped, they had been. Flora, especially, looked like a deer in headlights. 

“Dan - _Dani_... ”

“Dani?”  
  
Miles looked between them, head cocked. Before she could wave him off — there would be time for that later — Flora pressed on.

“We… we need to talk.”

Her voice was shaking, and she wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“Yeah. No, I - ”

Dani looked around before turning back to them, feeling her heart pounding even harder now.

“Where’s Jamie?”

Now, Flora did meet her gaze, her eyes practically bulging. Dani felt her hands starting to tremble as Flora stuttered.

“She - she’s not with you?"  
  


⧫

“Dani… please... say something.”

“I - I don’t... understand.”

Dani was so lost in thought, it took her a moment to register Flora had started to cry. She looked up to find Flora’s head buried in her brother’s shoulder, his arm around her. They were sitting on the adjacent couch, and Miles was almost glaring at her.

“Oh my god… Flora, no!” Dani felt her heart drop to her stomach. “That’s not what I meant!”

“I’m so... sorry!”

“Flora, I’m not mad, I promise! ... I’m really not!”

Flora seemed to calm down slightly, taking a few shaky breaths, but she didn’t move her head.

“I just - I’m trying to figure something out, and I… need your help.” Dani exhaled. “I don’t think you need my forgiveness, but you - you have it, okay?”  
  
Flora sniffled and nodded into Mile’s shoulder after a moment.

“Thank... you.”

Dani was about to say she didn’t need to thank her but held her tongue, realizing it had probably made Flora feel better.

“Your welcome.”

Flora finally turned to look at her, though she kept her head on Miles’ shoulder as she wiped her face. Dani felt her heart clench. She’d never made Flora cry before, not directly, at least.

“You okay?”

Flora nodded. Dani swallowed.  
  
“Again, I - I’m so sorry, Flora... But if you’re up to it, I need you to walk me through something.”

Flora nodded again.

“You said Jamie offered to take you back here?”

“Yeah.”

“And you - _you’re_ the one who left?”

She saw Flora’s lips start to tremble and put her hand on her knee.

“I’m not blaming you! I just - ” She sighed. “If you _had_ stayed, do you think you guys would’ve come here?”

She saw Flora’s eyes widen.

“I guess. I was about to agree until I realized - ”

“That I might be here, right.” 

There was a beat of silence.

“So why didn’t she come back here herself?”

Dani turned to Owen, sitting beside her on the couch, as he apprehensively voiced the question she couldn’t bring herself to. She nodded, biting her lip.

“ _Oh_ … ”

Dani turned back to Flora, who somehow looked even more anxious now as she lifted her head off Miles’ shoulder and sat up.

“What?”

Flora looked down and started wringing her hands.

“Flora, it’s okay.” She took her hand off Flora’s knee and put it on top of Flora’s hands, stilling them. “Anything you know will help. You saw her more than any of us today.”

Flora still didn’t look up.

“Promise you won’t be mad?”

Flora’s voice was small. Dani felt her eyebrows furrow.

“Mad?” She felt Flora tense up. “Sorry, yes. I promise. I - I won’t be mad.”

Flora nodded, then lifted her head, though she didn’t look much more at ease.

“Jamie, she… I mean, she didn’t say it outright, but - well… no, I guess she did.”

“Say what?”

“That she… ” Flora sighed. “Dani, I tried to tell her she was wrong.”

Dani squeezed Flora’s hands and smiled, genuinely if a bit pointedly. Flora nodded.   
  
“Jamie thought you, umm, might not... come back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the gang's back together... almost. What's going on with Jamie? Where could she be? And how about Dani finally giving Karen a piece of her mind?! And baby Jamie pulling the fire alarm lol?!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! As always, comments are much appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone who's been reading!! Get ready for more angst, fluff and flashbacks! 
> 
> CW: One of the flashbacks involves brief non-graphic violence and homophobia.

_She knew it was Dani walking toward her locker without even having to look over. At some point over the past six months, Jamie had unconsciously memorized the sound of her footsteps. Granted, the only other person who ever walked over to her locker was Owen, and Dani’s footsteps were much lighter than his, obviously, and also much faster than his — almost absurdly fast, today especially. Jamie smiled to herself._

_“Check it out.”  
  
_ _Before she even turned fully, Dani was shoving a gift bag into her hands. She couldn’t see what was inside other than white tissue paper. The bag itself was red. She looked up. Dani was giving her that sweet nervous smile that always made her heart trip over itself… and even blushing?_

_Eyebrow raised, Jamie turned back to the bag and carefully shifted the tissue paper to pull up what was underneath. A scarf — a beautiful blend of green and brown, incredibly soft and by the look of it…_

_“D’ja make this?”_ _  
__  
__She looked up to find Dani’s smile widening as she nodded. Her cheeks were even redder now._

_“In home ec, yeah.”_

_“Shit.” She couldn’t help smiling in admiration. “Eddie is a very lucky boyfriend.”_

_Dani’s smile faltered, and her face started to fall. Before Jamie could apologize — though for what, she had no idea — Dani spoke._

_“No, no, it’s - it’s for you.”_

_Jamie felt her eyebrows scrunch._

_“Me?”_

_Dani nodded. Jamie cocked her head, opening and closing her mouth a couple times._

_“Dani, you_ do _know what today is, right?”_ _  
_

_Dani went wide-eyed, her whole face flushing._

_“It’s for your birthday!”_

_“Uh, s’not - ”_

_“Half-birthday, I mean!”_

_Jamie didn’t know what that meant. But she felt bad as Dani gulped._

_“August 14th, so - so February 14th, right?”_

_Jamie felt her eyebrows rise. She really only celebrated her birthday at Owen and Mrs. Sharma’s insistence — certainly never_ twice _a year._

_“I just - I figured we’re not in school, umm, over the summer, so...”_

_Jamie nodded slowly, but then furrowed her brow again._

_“Wait, how d’ya know when ma birthday is?”_

_Dani swallowed._

_“Owen.”_

_Jamie nodded again, though Dani’s answer didn’t explain what she was really wondering. But she supposed she’d asked the wrong question._

_And then she remembered a question she had asked and shook her head, almost laughing. She carefully pushed the scarf back down and covered it with the tissue paper before handing it back. Dani looked bewildered._

_“Dani, you_ made _it.”_

_“Yeah... ”_

_“So you should_ keep _it.”_

_Dani opened her mouth, but then the first bell rang._

_Jamie turned and grabbed a notebook, the last thing she needed to add to her backpack for class, before closing her locker. She turned back to Dani as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. Dani hadn’t moved and looked upset for some reason. Not sure what else to do, she gripped Dani’s shoulder as she walked past, trying for a reassuring smile._

_“Seriously. It’s amazin’.”_

******

“How d’ja find me?”

Flora stepped off the final rung of the fire escape and over the brick parapet before hopping down onto the roof of the library. They’d split up into teams: her and Miles taking the north side, Dani and Owen taking the south and Hannah driving around the town perimeter. 

Jamie didn’t turn around, though Flora hadn’t really expected her to since she’d already told Jamie she was coming up.

“Well… ” Flora took a deep breath as she started walking over. “I know a thing or two about running away.” 

She’d felt guilty at the time, but she felt even worse now, knowing that Jamie might not have run if _she_ hadn’t. She was well-aware, despite Jamie's insistence she wasn't "babysitting" her, that Jamie hadn’t walked her home just because of her idiotic idea to have a summit with… 

She cleared her throat. 

“And I know you’re a huge nerd.”

She came up beside her and smiled, relaxing slightly, as she heard Jamie cough.

Jamie was leaning against the parapet looking out over the edge. Flora leaned back against the wall, resting her elbows on it as she faced the opposite direction. Since it was now after 1 am and there was no lighting on the roof, she actually couldn’t see Jamie much better up-close than she’d been able to from the street, so she just looked out across the roof.

“And I used to come here, too - not _here_ here, this is insane - ” She smiled wider and felt herself blush as she heard Jamie chuckle. “But downstairs… ” She exhaled. “It was one of the first places Dani took us after our parents died.”

The familiar pause.

“Shit. I’m sorry.”

The familiar shrug.

“It was a long time ago… almost a decade ago now.”

“Doesn’t make it any easier to move on.”

The _not so_ familiar response.

In her experience, people were usually anxious to change the subject in the interest of making themselves feel less uncomfortable. But Jamie hadn’t, so she let herself stay in it, too.

“No… it doesn’t… especially when my dad might not be dead.”

She saw Jamie’s head whip toward her out of the corner of her eye, and even in the darkness, she could see Jamie’s eyebrow was arched almost comically high as she turned to her.

******

_Owen’s phone chimed a millisecond before Dani’s, but she spoke first._

_“Oh, thank god.”_

_Owen had taken off his glasses to rub his face after getting Miles’ text. It had been a long day._

_As he opened his eyes and put them back on, he realized Dani wasn’t standing beside him. He turned back, half-expecting her to already be sprinting in the opposite direction toward the library, but instead he found her sitting on the sidewalk, her back against the front door of the diner they’d been walking past, holding her head in her hands._

_“Hey… you alright?”_

_He crouched down in front of her. She looked up as she brought her hands down to her knees, which were bent in front of her, and nodded. But she didn’t say anything and leaned her head back against the door, breathing rather heavily. Owen sighed._

_“Dani, umm… while we’re here, I know you’re… mad.” Dani jerked her head forward and opened her mouth, but Owen put a hand up. “It’s okay. I am, too.”_ _  
__  
__Dani exhaled and leaned her head back. Owen lowered his hand and clapsed it with his other one, rubbing them together as he swallowed._

_“But please… go easy on her, okay?”_

_Dani threw her hands up as her eyes blazed._

_“But what was she thinking? That I - I’d just like - ”_

_“I know.”_

_Dani sighed, leaning her head down slightly as she ran her hands through her hair._

_“But that’s the thing. The way_ we - ” He gestured between them. _“Think about her… that’s not how_ she _\- ”_

_“Thinks about herself.”_

_He nodded as Dani glanced back up. He’d figured Dani already understood this, just needed a reminder in the heat of the moment._

_“Right… ” Dani nodded, more to herself, it seemed. “Thank you, Owen.”_

_Owen smiled._

_“What’s a brother-in-law for?”_

_Dani’s eyes went wide for a moment, then she shook her head, clearly trying, yet failing not to smile; even in the dim light cast by a street lamp, her blushing was evident. Owen bit back a laugh._

_“Too soon?”_

******

“I’ve a half-sibling, too. Mikey.”

Flora turned back to Jamie. They’d fallen into silence for a few moments after she’d finished explaining her tale of paternity woe.

“He was part ah the reason ma mum left, what finally pushed her over the edge. The shame ah it all, I guess.”

Flora sighed, facing forward again. If this was meant to be comforting, Jamie was missing the mark a bit.

“So if he’d never been born, you would’ve been better off.”

She saw Jamie shrug in her periphery.

“Maybe… But the more I think ’bout it now I’m older, she was basically a kid herself. Only a little older’n you when she met ma dad. Had ma older brother, Denny, ‘n me within two years.”

Flora felt her eyes widen. She’d always wanted kids, but the only thing she was more sure of than that was that she would not be ready for it for several more years.

“So maybe say _that_ was the mistake. Maybe if she’d never met ma dad, _she_ would’a been better off. Clearly thought as much in the end.”

“Jamie!”

Flora whipped her head to the side. Now that her eyes had adjusted more, she could see Jamie raising an eyebrow, a hint of a smile on her lips. She immediately blushed at the sight... and then realized why Jamie was doing it and turned back in a huff, blushing even harder.

“It’s not the same. I’m guessing _your_ brother isn’t also your _cousin_?”

“People being married doesn’t mean they were _meant_ to be, Flora.”

“Yeah? How’s _Miles_ supposed to feel about that?”

“Well, that’s for him to decide, innit? But I can tell ya right now he’s not gonna regret havin’ ya in his life.”

Flora sighed. 

“You don’t?” She saw Jamie’s eyes widen as she turned back and instantly felt her cheeks scorch. “Having Mikey, I mean!”

For a moment, Jamie didn’t respond, then she exhaled as she pushed back from the wall and stood up. Flora stood up herself as Jamie turned sideways and shrugged the flannel she was wearing off her right shoulder.

“Ya see that?”

Flora swallowed, her face flushing even more. 

“Umm… ” 

She heard Jamie chuckle, and her face burned. 

“Turn on the flashlight on ya phone.”

Flora did so, her hands _pathetically_ shaking a little, and then she saw it immediately and gasped before she could stop herself. 

“Sorry.”  
  
It came out as a squeak. Her face was literally radiating heat as she bit her lip.

“S’all right.” 

Between the edge of Jamie’s tank top and the round of her shoulder, the skin was scarred — dull red, a bit raised, grapefruit-sized, though not quite circular, and rough around the edges. 

Not that Flora got too close. She had a feeling Jamie didn’t show this to many people, and she wasn’t about to take advantage of that trust, especially having already reacted badly, however inadvertently. She turned off the light, and Jamie shrugged the flannel back up.

“Got that tryna take care ah Mikey… Ya know the only thing I regret about it?” 

Flora shook her head, which was dumb since Jamie couldn’t see, but before she say could verbalize, Jamie answered the question as she turned around.

“That it’s the reason I lost ’im.”

“ _Oh_ .” Flora felt her heart clench. “Jamie, I’m so sorry.”  
  
Jamie gave her a melancholic smile.

“Don’t give up on people before you even give ’em a chance, yeah?”

“If you really believe that then why did I have to track _you_ down?”

Flora smiled slightly as Jamie gaped at her. But then Jamie sighed, crossing her arms.

“Just ’cause _I_ don’t act in ma own self-interest doesn’t mean I want other people to do the same.”

“Well, that’s for them to decide, _innit_?”

Even as her face flushed yet again, Flora grinned proudly as Jamie chuckled, despite herself. Then, there was a lull, and Flora looked down at the roof, shoving her thumbs through the belt loops of the jean shorts she was still wearing. She swallowed.

“ _She’s_ the reason I have a crush on you, you know.”

She looked up to find Jamie’s eyebrows shooting up. Then, Jamie furrowed them as she cocked her head. She was looking at her as if she’d just spoken a different language. It was adorable, and Flora couldn’t help smiling shyly, even as her face burned for the millionth time.

“I mean, did you think it just like sprang up overnight?”

Jamie’s eyes widened even more. Evidently, she hadn’t given it much thought. Flora looked down at the roof again, tracing the outlines of the bricks with her foot.

“I’ve had a crush on you for like... a while. I’d never met you, obviously... or even _seen_ you, not that I remember, anyway - pretty sure I _would’ve_ remembered.” She chuckled and flushed even more as she heard Jamie cough. “This is gonna sound weird.” She swallowed again. “But it almost felt like I knew you because I heard so much _about_ you… from Dani.”

Exhaling after a moment, she glanced up. Jamie looked taken aback, but not necessarily in a bad way. Flora found herself smiling sheepishly.

“She sold you quite well.”

Jamie laughed, albeit a bit awkwardly, and rubbed the back of her neck. Flora felt her smile widen.

“Not that she was trying to. Seemed almost like she couldn’t stop herself. Wasn’t fully conscious of herself doing it.”

Flora chuckled again but then sighed as Jamie looked down, shoving her hands in her pockets. 

“Jamie, what I’m trying to say is she was _so_ into you her subconscious took over.” 

Jamie still didn’t look up.

“Look, I know you think you’re like this… burden to her or whatever… And, yes, she can… have a hard time acting in her own self-interest, like you said.” 

Even as a kid, she’d picked up on it — the stress, the pressure, the need to please; and now, as her student, she could still tell when Dani was pushing herself too hard. Jamie nodded. 

“But when she would talk about _you_ , _whenever_ she would talk about you, that was when she was at her _most_ relaxed... her _happiest_.”

As she’d hoped, Jamie’s eyes widened, her mouth hung open. And then, ever so slightly, the corner of her mouth curved up. 

“JAMIE TAYLOR!”

Flora couldn’t help smiling as Jamie immediately tensed up again, turned slowly and looked down upon hearing the familiar and, at the moment, rather fiery voice. Then, she heard Miles call up.

“We sorta have a group chat about you now. Sorry.”

******

_Dani_ _jumped a little when she felt the tap on her shoulder as she went to close her locker. It was ten minutes past the final bell — not to mention Friday... and Valentine’s Day — so the hallways were all but deserted._

_“Sorry.”_

_Dani recognized the voice immediately but didn’t relax like she normally did when she heard it. She closed her locker and turned slowly, trying to force a smile. It should’ve been easy given how often she had to do it. But more and more Jamie was becoming the one person she could be herself around... and the one person who could always elicit a genuine smile from her._

_“Hey, umm, what’s up?”_

_She tried for a cheery tone, mostly to keep her voice from wavering. But apparently, she was only putting a show on for herself. Jamie was staring at the floor, hands clenched at her sides, and didn’t respond._

_“Jamie?"_

_She heard what sounded like a sniff, but Jamie still didn’t answer. She stepped closer and gripped Jamie’s shoulder. It was trembling slightly._

_“What’s wrong?”_

_“I’m sorry.”_

_Jamie’s voice was small, and as she finally looked up, Dani saw that her eyes were glistening. She’d been so concerned about her, it took her a moment to realize why Jamie had apologized again._

_“Oh."_

_“Owen told me you - well, that I - ” Jamie cleared her throat. “I didn’t mean to… hurt you.”_

_Jamie swallowed. Dani couldn’t help gaping at her for a few moments. She had been surprised and indeed hurt by Jamie returning the present; and frankly, she was still pretty confused. But she could tell Jamie was being sincere, and her lingering resentment washed away. She squeezed Jamie’s shoulder and smiled softly._

_“It’s okay.” Jamie shook her head, looking down again. “It is… I - I forgive you, okay?” Still nothing. “_ Okay _?”_

_She grinned as she saw the corners of Jamie’s mouth twitch before Jamie nodded. Dani exhaled, then swallowed._

_“So do you, umm - do you want it then?”_

_Jamie jerked her head back up, wide-eyed._

_“Really?”_

_Dani smiled softly again, then slung her backpack off her shoulder, flipped it around to the front and pressed it into Jamie’s hands. She tried to hide her widening smile at Jamie’s continued surprise as she looked down and unzipped it. She pulled out the scarf itself, not wanting to deal with the bag again, then took the backpack back, slinging it over her shoulder again as Jamie hesitantly started reaching out a hand for the scarf._

_“Put your hood up.”_

_“What? Oh.”_

_Jamie retracted her hand just as hesitantly but did as she’d asked. She grinned as Jamie impatiently shoved a few wayward curls inside._

_Jamie was wearing the same black Bastille sweatshirt she’d worn pretty much every day since late fall — not that she was keeping tabs on her — despite the temperature having dropped at least twenty degrees since then. Given that Owen had been dressing much more appropriately for a Midwest winter, she knew it was just Jamie being stubborn, so she’d decided to do something about it. And, well, if Jamie was going to be wearing it, the yarn may as well match her eyes, right?_

_Jamie was looking at her almost in awe — mouth hanging open slightly, cheeks a bit pink — as she wrapped the scarf around the base of her hood. Then, Jamie cleared her throat and looked down._

_“Thanks."_

_Dani pulled back, nodding, then realized she was biting her lip and swallowed before smiling._

_“You have to wear it_ every day _until spring, okay?”_

 _She’d meant it as a joke. But Jamie nodded vigorously, and she had to bite her lip again to keep from laughing. It wasn’t that it was funny, really. It was..._ cute _. Clearing her throat, she nodded toward the other end of the hallway._

_“So, shall we... test it out?”_

_Jamie smiled softly, crookedly. There was something familiar about the expression. Grinning herself, Dani turned and started walking. She almost went to take Jamie’s hand — they were going in the same direction to the same place; and girls grabbed their friend’s hands all the time — but she resisted the urge. She’d only just calmed Jamie down and didn’t want to accidentally upset her._

_In hindsight, taking Jamie’s hand might have been practical. Dani had been a fast walker for as long as she could remember, yet when they stepped outside, she found herself slightly out of breath, having struggled to keep up with Jamie the whole way._

_Jamie turned back, that same adorable smile on her face, and Dani felt her heart melt as she realized what it reminded of her._

******

“Where are you going?”

Jamie froze and turned to her, wide-eyed, clutching a pillow and blanket. Dani had caught her walking past as she’d opened the door of the hall bathroom, having gotten washed up and changed into the T-shirt and shorts Jamie had given her. They were incredibly soft, so she had to imagine either all of Jamie’s sleepwear was, or Jamie had purposefully given her the comfiest ones. She was betting on the latter.

“Uh… porch.”

Dani furrowed her brow. Hannah and Owen were in his room, Flora and Miles were camped out on the couches with blankets and pillows of their own, so the porch was the only option left... other than Jamie’s own bed, of course. 

“Why?”

“Well, I… I just… ” Jamie swallowed. “Aren’t you mad at me?”

Dani sighed. She hadn’t hidden her pent-up frustration quite as well as she’d intended, but she’d also wrapped Jamie in a bear hug as soon as she’d climbed down and held her hand the whole way back to her house.

“You’re worried I’m mad at you for _leaving_... so you thought you should... ”

She nodded down the hall in the direction Jamie had been headed, away from her bedroom. The kitchen was the only part of the main living area visible from here. Jamie followed her gaze, then turned back, looking at her helplessly.

“I - I’m sorry. I don’t… Dani, I swear I’m not - ”

Her lips started trembling. Dani dropped her own pile of clothes on the floor and surged forward in regret.

“Shh… it’s okay. It’s okay.” She cupped Jamie’s face. “ _I’m_ sorry. I - I shouldn’t have said that.”

Jamie shook her head. 

“S’ma fault.”

Her voice was raw. Dani brushed her a few curls behind Jamie’s ear, trying to swallow the lump forming in her own throat. 

“You’re still new at this. And that’s not your fault.”

“New at _what_?”

Jamie’s eyes were glistening, and her voice cracked. 

“Knowing that you’re worth the effort.” 

She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed Jamie’s forehead. She heard her whimper after a moment, then pulled back, brushing her thumbs across her cheeks as a few tears broke loose.

“Speaking of which, we should talk.”

******

_It had been over a week since Jamie had walked away from her at prom, and so far, Jamie had rebuffed all of her attempts at conversation._

_The worst part was she didn’t even seem angry, maybe annoyed, but mostly just… dejected. And for some reason, her attempted apologies only seemed to deflate Jamie more. Not meeting her gaze, Jamie would say it’s “s’fine,” like she always did when something clearly wasn’t, make some excuse and walk away._

_But Dani wasn’t going to give up. Maybe they could never go back to what they had… whatever that was. But they weren’t going to leave things like this, not if she had any say in the matter._

_As she approached Jamie’s locker, trying to decide between a casual greeting (“hey”) or just getting right to it (“please, hear me out”), Jamie was suddenly knocked off her feet. Having been packing up for the day, she brought several books down on top of her as her hand slipped. Fortunately, they fell on her torso, rather than her head, but they looked heavy. Dani heard her groan._

_“Jamie!”_

_She’d been so focused on Jamie herself she didn’t even realize_ how _it had happened until she heard a familiar sound that had been echoing across the halls for the past few days. Peter started walking away on his crutches, laughing with his buddies. She wound her arm back._

_She’d known Peter since elementary school. She’d attended all his baseball games through the years since Eddie played, too — including the very game Peter had just injured himself in. She and Eddie had made small talk with him and Rebecca on many a Friday night after bumping into them at the roller rink or the bowling alley or the movie theater._

_But she’d never considered Peter a friend, especially given his constant belittling of Rebecca. So, in fact, she_ had _thought about punching him before. What she hadn’t done was think it through._

 _She cried out, clutching her hand as she pulled it back from Peter’s jaw — the only part of him she’d been able to reach, even standing on her tiptoes, even with him slouched down._ Of course _, she’d left her thumb inside in her fist, not that her fingers were feeling much better._

_She shook out her already bruising hand as Peter gaped at her. She’d barely made a dent, it seemed; even on crutches, he hadn’t stumbled back. But she’d clearly gotten to him — she could see it in his eyes — and that was quite satisfying._

_“Dani?”_

_She looked past him to find Jamie gaping at her, too, as she stood up amid the pile of books. Sighing in relief, Dani stepped around Peter._

_“Are you okay?”_

_“I - Yeah. Are..._ you _?”_

_“So she’s your new target?”_

_Jamie looked past her, and Dani turned back. Peter had spun around and was sneering at Jamie._

_“Since Rebecca wouldn’t f- ”_

_Dani didn’t know Rebecca had to do with any of this. But Jamie seemed to._

_Before she even realized what was happening, Jamie had flown past her and slammed into Peter, sending his crutches skidding across the floor as he fell back. Then, Jamie straddled his waist and brought her fist down hard on his face. Dani heard Peter groan, then saw Jamie go in for another blow._

_“Jamie!”_

******

“Do you remember what you said the other day… about not wanting to get stuck here?”

“Dani… ”

They were sitting facing each on Jamie’s bed on the same sides they’d slept on that night two weekends ago now. Jamie was cross-legged, picking at the threads on the pillow in her lap. Dani was squeezing the pillow in her lap, one one leg bent beneath it, the other stretched out, brushing Jamie’s knee.

“You were right.” 

She saw Jamie’s eyebrows rise. 

“I think - I think that’s why I got so upset.”

Jamie relaxed her face and looked at her gently, encouragingly. Dani sighed.

“Do you know why I came back here?”

Jamie shook her head. Dani looked down as she coughed out a laugh.

“I didn’t know where else to go. I thought… going away - I thought it would help. And it did, in a way… but it - it never felt like home, either.” Dani exhaled, squeezing her pillow a bit harder. “So I came back… And I do love my job. Teaching is the only career that’s ever felt right to me.”  
  
Dani looked back up. Jamie nodded, smiling softly.

“But there’s never been a… _place_ that’s felt right to me.” Dani swallowed. “Only a _person_.”

Jamie gaped at her, and now it was Dani’s turn to smile softly. They fell into silence for a few moments. Dani reached over and took Jamie’s hand, rubbing her thumb over her knuckles. Just as she was about to tell her she didn’t have to say anything, Jamie spoke.

“I did the same thing.”

Dani cocked her head. Jamie swallowed. 

“I moved back to London ’cause I didn’t know where else to go. Owen was gone… _you_ were gone.”

Dani felt her eyebrows rise. She’d said she’d missed Jamie a few times now, but this was the first time Jamie was saying it back. Jamie looked down, her cheeks turning pink. 

“I know I said I wan’ed to travel ‘n all, but the truth is… ” Jamie laughed awkwardly. “I was just lonely.”

Dani felt her heart clench and squeezed Jamie’s hand. She smiled as she saw the corners of Jamie’s mouth twitch. 

“Mrs. Sharma was here, ah course, but she’d taken care ah me for so long, didn’t feel right to keep moochin’… So I went back home, and it… it didn’t really change anythin’. Eventually, I just accepted it.”

Jamie swallowed again, then looked back up at her, and Dani felt her breath hitch. Jamie was looking at her intently. 

“But I don’t want to anymore.”

For a moment, the words hung in the air, the space between them. And then Jamie cupped her face and leaned in, and Dani felt at peace, even more relaxed than she had when she’d woken up with Jamie’s head on her chest in her own bed almost 24 hours ago. She shoved the pillows aside and pulled her closer.

*******

_Dani rushed over to pull Jamie back. Curiously, Peter’s buddies, both of whom were about his size, were just standing there watching. But it didn’t matter. This was all her fault._

_Well, no it was Peter’s fault, mostly. But she was the one who’d escalated things. Crouching over Jamie, she wrapped her arms around her, then froze as her breath hitched. She could literally feel Jamie’s abs flexing through her T-shirt. She was quite toned, far more toned than the baggy clothes she wore let on._

_Jamie’s fist came down again. Dani snapped out of it, feeling her face flush, and pulled as hard as she could, leaning back. But Jamie was much stronger than her tiny frame suggested, and Dani… was not._

_“JAMIE!”_

_If anything, Jamie actually pulled her forward as she went in for another hit. Her knuckles were bloody. Dani’s own right hand throbbed as she kept it clasped in her left over Jamie’s stomach. She tried to think of anything…_ anything _else she could try and suddenly a bizarre calm settled over her, almost as if she were watching everything in slow motion. She leaned down and kissed the back of Jamie’s head._

_Technically, Jamie’s head met her lips halfway as she bobbed it back while pulling her arm back. The collision hurt a bit, but Dani kept her lips locked on Jamie’s curls, salty with sweat. After a few moments, she felt Jamie freeze as she’d intended and immediately pulled back._

_She was aware of all the eyes on them — naturally, the only thing that could make their classmates stay after the final bell was a fight — though from their perspective, it would probably look like they’d just bumped heads, right?_

_As Jamie slowly lowered her arm and started to stand, she pulled her arms back and stood up herself. She could hear Jamie breathing heavily and swallowed as she turned around. Her face was flush from exertion and beaded with sweat, a few curls stuck to it; and there were unmistakable tear tracks running down her cheeks._

_Most noticeable, though, were her eyes — dazed yet bright. Then, they rolled up into her head, and she collapsed._

******

Dani felt Jamie’s face slump against hers as Jamie’s hands slipped out of her hair and down to her shoulders, seemingly signaling the end of their passionate yet tender make-out session. It had been a calm sort of release, like feeling the sun on your face. 

Opening her eyes, Dani moved her arms up the back of Jamie’s T-shirt, then cupped Jamie’s jaw and pulled her back. Jamie was kneeling between her legs, so her head was a little above hers. Jamie’s eyes were still closed; her whole face was drooping; and she was breathing slowly, deeply. Dani’s face split into a stupidly wide grin. 

“S-sorry.”

Dani’s smile faltered. She rubbed her thumbs along Jamie’s jawline.

“Hey, never apologize for stopping, okay?” Jamie sank down to her level as she sat back on her heels. “Jay?”

Jamie jerked her head slightly, and Dani exhaled, then smirked.

“Plus, _you_... are even cuter when you’re sleepy.”

She expected Jamie to tense. But instead, the corner of her mouth curved up and then she giggled, eyes still closed. Dani almost squealed. She pulled Jamie in and nuzzled her nose, eliciting a hum from her, then pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth before gently leaning her head back again.

“Okay, bedtime.”

******

_Jamie opened her eyes slowly, blinking._

_“Owen?”_

_He was a bit blurry, but the figure hovering over her was unmistakable._

_“Oh, thank god. How are you feeling?”_

_“Uh… fine… ” Jamie brought her hands up to rub her eyes. “I g-ahh.”_

_Jamie opened her eyes again. Fortunately, she could see clearly now. Unfortunately, she could_ clearly _see that the knuckles of her right hand were cracked and bruised... and caked with blood. She blanched and turned back to Owen._

_“Is Peter - ”_

_Owen grimaced._

_“They’re taking him to the hospital, but I think they’re just being cautious. He probably has a broken nose, black eye, but otherwise… ”_

_Jamie exhaled and nodded, more to herself, as she looked around — she was lying on a bed in the nurse’s office, which was empty except for her and Owen apparently. She hated Peter, but she’d also lost control. She hadn’t really wanted him or anyone…_

_She felt her heart drop to her stomach._

_“Oh, god. Dani - is she - ”_

_“Jamie!”_

_She turned to find Dani running into the office and immediately sat up, propping herself up on her forearms. She got a headrush but managed not to faint again._

_“Are you okay?”_

_Dani slowed as she approached her bed and cocked her head._

_“Me?”_

_Jamie had been looking her up and down and landed on her right hand now. It was wrapped in an Ace bandage and her thumb seemed to be splinted. She gasped._

_“Oh, yeah. My thumb might be broken. But it was worth it to punch Peter, right?”_

_She looked up. Dani was smiling shyly, a bit ruefully._

_“So, I - I didn’t - ” Jamie swallowed. “Hurt you?”_

_Dani furrowed her brow._

_“No, of course not.” She frowned. “You… don’t remember?”_

_Jamie tried to think. Everything after she’d rushed Peter was a blur. She knew Dani had tried to stop her — and now she knew she hadn’t hit her accidentally; or god forbid, lashed out — and then it all kinda went black. There was..._ something _else, something vague, more of a feeling._

 _“How long was I out?”  
_ _  
__Dani was biting her lip. She looked disappointed for some reason._

_“You sure you’re alright?”_

_Dani’s eyes went wide. She shook her head quickly and smiled._

_“No, yeah. I - I was just… worried about you.”_

_“And I was positively Jay-side myself.”  
_ _  
__Owen laughed at his own joke. But Jamie couldn’t look away from Dani. Her smile reached her eyes, but her eyes weren’t calm._

******

Jamie grumbled. It was still dark outside — she could tell even with her eyes closed — but there was an alarm going off. Granted, she was used to waking early and getting a run in before going off to whatever landscaping jobs she’d lined up for herself. But she was fairly certain it had only been a few hours since she’d nodded off. 

“Sorry.” She felt Dani’s hand slip off her waist, then the alarm stopped. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be back soon.”

Jamie now registered that she was nestled against Dani’s neck — her hair smelled like lavender. Dani’s other arm was wrapped around her shoulders, and apparently she’d flung her right arm and leg across Dani. 

“Whereyagoin?”

She heard Dani giggle.

“What was that?”

Jamie grumbled again and felt Dani laugh even harder, her chest vibrating beneath her arm. Then, she felt Dani kiss the top of her head.

“I’m going to the school, if that _is_ what you were asking.”

Jamie jolted. She opened eyes and lifted her head up to look at Dani. It was hard to see Dani’s face, but she felt Dani cup on her cheek.

“ _Just_ to make things official.” Her tone turned bittered. “If Henry wants to fire me, he can do it to my face.”

Jamie still couldn’t breathe.

“Dani… you’re sure - ”

“I meant what I said. As long as I’m with you, I don’t care where I am.”

Jamie exhaled but didn’t feel entirely relieved. Dani leaned up and kissed her other cheek, then sat up. Jamie followed suit, retracting her leg from Dani’s waist. Her eyes were starting to adjust now, and she realized as Dani threw back the duvet and slipped out of her bed that they’d both been sleeping on Dani’s side of it — Dani had a side of her bed now.

“Dani?” 

She saw Dani turn back, stretching. She knew what she wanted to ask… but she couldn’t bring herself to. She looked down, squeezing the duvet. Dani sat back down on the bed, and she cleared her throat. 

“Never mind.”

She heard Dani sigh.

“Jay… ”

Something inside her snapped at Dani using the nickname, and she whipped her head back.

“Can I come with ya?” She saw Dani’s eyes widen. “For moral support.”

Dani smiled softly. 

“Yeah, of course… Is that all you wanted to ask?”

She nodded. Dani frowned slightly. 

“Why are you so nervous?”

Jamie swallowed. Explaining felt like tempting fate. Dani continued looking at her curiously for a few moments, then her face fell.

“Oh… _Jamie_.” 

Jamie looked down and squeezed the duvet again, her eyes starting to sting. Dani had never said her name that slowly before, or that painfully. She looked back up as she felt Dani cup her cheek again. Dani looked on the verge of tears herself.

“Is that why you… ” Dani swallowed. “Why you weren’t sure I’d come back?”

Jamie swallowed.

“I, uh… well, it seemed like you wanted to be alone, so… ”

She trailed off into Dani’s shoulder, Dani now kneeling beside her, having flung her arms around her.

“God, I’m so sorry.” She _was_ crying now. “I - I was just trying to... _protect_ you from her.”

Jamie furrowed her brow.  
  
“Your mum?” 

She felt Dani nod.

“Oh.”

In hindsight, it was a very _Dani_ thing to do.

“And myself.”

“ _What ? ”_

“I was still so… ” Dani sniffled. “Worked up after I… talked to her, and I - I didn’t want to… take it out on you.”

Another very _Dani_ thing to do.

“ _Jamie_ … ”

She reached up and rubbed Dani’s back. 

“No, hey, it’s not… _I’m_ the one who didn’t come back and tried to _White Fang_ ya, like a dick.”

She sighed as she heard Dani let out a watery chuckle.

“You’re not a dick.”

“You’re only sayin’ that ’cause you’re _not_ one.”

She heard Dani laugh again.

“ _No_ , I’m saying it because I - ” Dani abruptly stopped, and she felt her tense. “Because I am.”

Her voice was a bit tight. But before Jamie could dwell on what _that_ meant, she felt her pull back. Dani wiped her face, then held out her right hand, clenching but all her pinky, and cleared her throat. 

“Together from now on?”

Her voice was light again, light yet precise. Jamie smiled lopsidedly as she slid her right hand from Dani’s back to her waist, then lifted it up and locked their pinkies. As Dani slowly beamed, she leaned down and kissed Dani’s fist.

******

_“If you’re going to suspend her, you have to suspend me, too.”_

_Dani heard Jamie breathe in to object, but before she could, Principal Crain responded to her ultimatum._

_“I appreciate your… show of solidarity, Danielle... but_ you _are not the one who sent Peter_ back _to the hospital.”_

_Mrs. Crain — or Shirley, as most of their classmates called her; Dani tried not to, out of respect, but also out of fear that she’d accidentally say it to her face — glared at Jamie._

_“I may as well have.” Mrs. Crain turned back to her. “I threw the first punch. If I hadn’t, he probably would’ve kept walking… And I only did it because Peter attacked_ Jamie _. And it’s not the first - ”_

 _“Dani!”  
_ _  
__Mrs. Crain turned to Jamie, now frowning slightly, seemingly in concern._

_“What does she mean?”_

_Jamie cleared her throat, and Dani turned to her._

_“Doesn’t matter.” Jamie stood up. “If ya wanna suspend me, go ahead. I don’t care.”_

_With that, Jamie grabbed her backpack, wincing slightly — she’d grabbed it with her bandaged hand — and walked out. Dani sighed, then turned back and leaned forward._

_“I meant what I said. Everything I said. If she’s not gonna be at the senior class luncheon tomorrow, neither am I… ” Dani cleared her throat, steeling herself. “Which may be a bit awkward since I organized it.”  
_

_⧫  
  
_

_Jamie was leaning against the opposite wall when she walked out of the office. She kicked off, looking at her expectantly. Dani smiled._

_“Detention!”_

_“Really?”_

_Dani couldn’t help noticing the corners of Jamie’s mouth turning up as her eyes widened. She nodded._

_“Uh, thanks.” Jamie scratched the back of her neck with her bandaged hand, then winched again. “So where’m I goin’?”_

“We _are going to the cafeteria. Some sort of clean-up - ”_

_She’d started walking but stopped as Jamie jumped out in front of her like a deer in headlights._

_“Dani, you - ya can’t. You have your... future ‘n stuff. I’ll go back. I’ll tell her it was - ”_

_She gripped Jamie’s arm as Jamie tried to step around her._

_“Thank you. But it was my choice. And it’s fine. Elon won’t find out. School’s basically over, anyway.”_

_Jamie exhaled._

_“You sure?”_

_Dani smiled._

_“Yes, and besides… I’m excited.” She giggled as Jamie rolled her yes. “What’s it like?”_

_Jamie scoffed._

_“What makes ya think_ I _know?”_

 _Dani blanched. She couldn’t breathe._ What was wrong with her _?! She and Jamie had just started talking again, too._

_But before she could apologize, Jamie laughed, then turned around and started walking down the hall. Dani surged forward to walk beside her, breathing a sigh of relief._

_“Well, s’nothin’ to be… ex- ” Jamie gasped, seemingly having tried to do air quotes. She shook out her injured hand. “Jesus Christ.”_

_“Of course, it is. I’m with you.”_

_Dani stopped, realized Jamie was no longer beside her. She turned back to find her looking at the floor._

_“Look, Dani, I’m sorry that I’ve, uh - that I’ve been - ”_

_She stepped closer and took Jamie’s left hand in hers. Jamie looked down at it, then up at her, wide-eyed again._

_“It’s okay. I’m sorry, too… ” She swallowed hard, almost wincing herself. “Friends?”_

_Jamie smiled after a moment. It was an easy grin, not her crooked one._

_“’Course.”_

_Dani tried for a smile herself. Jamie cleared her throat, slipped her hand out of hers and started down the hall again._

_“As a friend, I should tell ya… ya don’t get ‘cool points’ for gettin’ detention if you’re happy about it.”_

******

Rebecca had woken up even before Peter and driven over to the school. Peter was right, of course. She’d just been trying to take the easy way out. She had to stay the course. No reason to veer off before she’d even heard back from any schools. 

She would catch Mr. Wingrave before the first bell, decline the offer and, well, quit altogether. Staying on as a sub until he found a replacement for Danielle could take the rest of the year for all she knew, and she had no interest in being used. A clean break, that’s what would be best for everyone.

Unfortunately, the clean break would have to wait until _anyone_ else was here. She’d been waiting a full hour when another car pulled into the parking lot. 

She sat up straighter and turned down the radio, as if that would help her see better, and watched as two people got out, neither of whom she’d been expecting to see.

“Danielle! Jamie!”  
  
They’d parked a few rows ahead of her and turned back in surprise as she closed her own car door. She started walking over, rather hurriedly. Danielle gave her a polite, if tight, smile. 

“Rebecca, hi.”

She seemed nervous, which was… completely fair, and Rebecca suddenly felt a twinge of guilt for ambushing her. She swallowed and slowed as she approached the car. Jamie had walked around the back of it and stopped in between her and Danielle. She took a deep breath.

“Danielle, it’s all yours. I don’t want it.”

Rebecca saw Danielle’s eyebrows rise. She turned toward Jamie, who looked back at her. Then, Danielle shifted her gaze back to her.

“Sorry, what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's Dani gonna do?? How about Dani and Jamie's reunion? And Jamie and Flora's heart-to-heart? Dani and Owen's? Also, I know that was a lot of flashbacks, but I really love writing them haha.
> 
> We are heading into the endgame, as they say. Haven't put a definite chapter count up yet, but I'm thinking there will be at least two more — featuring time jumps!
> 
> As always, comments are much appreciated!


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